T.J. Hockenson was a first-round pick in 2019 and had moments with the Lions that showed a fantasy football ceiling. The good games have been more sporadic since he joined the Vikings, and while an offensive change in Minnesota is happening, this is a profile to be cautious with.
Should You Draft T.J. Hockenson in Fantasy Football?
Hockenson has the name recognition, but does he have present-day viability? That’s the question for the Vikings tight end.
As of early September, Hockenson has an ADP of 161.6, but PFN analysts are way lower on him in the consensus ranking. He’s barely inside the top 200, ranked 197th. He’s TE26, and his projected points per game in 2026 stands at a meager 7.7.
He is a player who has the reputation and the history. There was a time when Hockenson was a perennial contender for top-5 tight end production, but those days unfortunately seem to have passed us by. Since his torn ACL and MCL in 2023, Hockenson’s efficiency has fallen off a cliff. He finished 34th among tight ends in PPR scoring in 2024 and 26th in 2025.
His QB situation last year definitely didn’t help matters, but Hockenson’s catch-point efficiency, yards-after-catch production, and target volume have all depreciated, and he’s never been an elite touchdown producer to begin with. On top of that, he had only 1 top-10 weekly fantasy finish in all of last season.
Kyler Murray coming in at QB should raise the bar for Hockenson and the Vikings at the most important position, and Hockenson will still have a steady role as the team’s unquestioned TE1. But even then, touchdown production may still be sparse. Trey McBride’s elite touchdown production in 2025 didn’t really take hold until after Jacoby Brissett took the job from Murray. The theory is that Murray’s height and inconsistent field vision may affect his viability in tight windows in the red zone. We’ll never know for sure, but that’s a pretty reasonable theory, I think. Unfortunately, it doesn’t bode well for Hockenson, who has never had a ton of touchdown production in his career.
Hockenson is definitely worth a flier in my opinion as a late-round dart at the tight end position, with a preset floor of snap and target volume in his TE1 role. But he is also clearly past his prime and has a QB situation that still doesn’t bode too well for high-volume production and touchdown efficiency. At his current ADP, I am unfortunately fading Hockenson.
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T.J. Hockenson’s Week 1 Fantasy Outlook
Analysis provided by PFN Analyst Kyle Soppe.
This is speculation on my part, but if you ask the common fantasy manager the age of Hockenson, I think the percentage of answers that come in high would be about as high as any player in the league.
He’s 29. He’s younger than Spider-Man. He’s younger than Jaylen Brown.
Sure, three times as many missed games as touchdown receptions over the past two seasons is suboptimal, but if we are going to use Kyler Murray as a reason to think this passing game ticks back toward league average, doesn’t the TE1 deserve some love?
He’s no longer being trusted downfield (7.6% deep target rate in 2025 after three straight seasons north of 17%), and while that caps the upside case, I do think there is some PPR scam potential to this profile.
The Packers allowed the fourth-fewest yards per pass thrown short of the sticks last season, so I’m not suggesting that Hock is in play in any format. What I am doing is asking you to track the situation. The Bears, Bucs, Dolphins, and Saints are next up for the Vikings: if this offense shows signs of life and is happy to have its TE1 running routes, we could be looking at a viable asset sooner than later.
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Where Hockenson Ranks Among 2026 Tight Ends
- Dalton Schultz | HOU
- AJ Barner | SEA
- Greg Dulcich | MIA
- Kenyon Sadiq | NYJ
- Terrance Ferguson | LAR
- Oronde Gadsden II | LAC
- T.J. Hockenson | MIN
- Pat Freiermuth | PIT
- Gunnar Helm | TEN
- Evan Engram | DEN
- Cade Otton | TB
Analysts Jason Katz and Kyle Soppe rank every tight end on PFN's 2026 PPR Consensus Board.
