Report: T.J. Hockenson to be “key part” of offense against Commanders

When the Minnesota Vikings acquired tight end T.J. Hockenson from the Detroit Lions at this year’s NFL Trade Deadline, the expectation was that it might take him a little while to get up to speed.

Apparently, somebody forgot to tell T.J. Hockenson.

According to ESPN NFL reporter Jeremy Fowler. . .who, it’s worth noting, worked for the St. Paul Pioneer Press in the early 2010s. . .is reporting that Hockenson is going to be a “key part” of the offense on Sunday when the Vikings face the Washington Commanders, having spent extra hours to get up to speed on the offense and the game plan for this week.

As things stand right now, Johnny Mundt is probably TE1 on the depth chart and the team has elevated Nick Muse to the active roster for Sunday’s game. However, I think we can all agree that the sooner Hockenson can take over the role of the top tight end in the Vikings’ offense, the better the Vikings’ offense will be. He has abilities that neither Mundt nor Muse has at this point, and while we expected him to be a threat in the red zone while he “got up to speed,” it sounds like he’s going to be able to be a threat everywhere a lot earlier than most of us expected.

I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to seeing just how much of a role Hockenson has tomorrow at FedEx Field. Hopefully we’ll be celebrating his first Vikings touchdown. . .or two. . .by the end of the afternoon.