Green Bay Packers: 5 Targets in first round of 2019 NFL Draft

3. T.J. Hockenson, TE, Iowa

Duh! We all knew he was going to be in this piece. T.J. Hockenson, along with his teammate Noah Fant, has been linked to Green Bay for months. The Packers have Jimmy Graham and Marcedes Lewis for another year, but they could afford to add a young tight end to develop behind those two so they have a contingency plan in place to move on from Graham next year. It also makes sense to add one with the prevalence of tight ends in LaFleur’s offense.

Hockenson isn’t the most proven tight end in this class, and his teammate Fant is the better receiver at this stage of their careers. However, Hockenson should be the best blocker in this class, and it isn’t particularly close.

At 6-5 and 250 pounds, Hockenson is a load to handle at the tight end position, and he has clips of him in college moving edge rushers completely out of the play. Blocking is a lost art for modern tight ends, but it isn’t lost on Hockenson.

Hockenson essentially doubled his production from one season to the next last year as he went from 24 to 49 catches along with 320 to 760 yards and three touchdowns to six touchdowns. He’s still got room to grow, but he showed during the combine that he’s willing to do all of the work necessary to be successful. If he can continue that work ethic at the next level, Green Bay will have an elite tight end for the next decade.