With T.J. Hockenson out, Vikings keeping a close eye on backup tight ends

Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said, “It’s going to be a very competitive camp at multiple positions.” We’re taking a look at each of those camp competitions as training camp gets underway. Today: Tight ends.

T.J. Hockenson is one of the NFL’s best tight ends. He’s 27, coming off a career year and is in the prime of his career as the Vikings’ undisputed starter.

But …

It’s also not a stretch to think Hockenson might not see the field until Week 5 against the Jets or Week 7, when the Vikings come off their bye to play the Lions for the first time since Hockenson tore the ACL and MCL in his right knee against his former team on Dec. 24 of last season.

That makes tight end an important training camp battle as the Vikings try to move forward temporarily without the player who might eventually become the most valuable security blanket that career underachiever Sam Darnold or rookie J.J. McCarthy will have in the passing game.

Incumbent backups Josh Oliver, the best blocker of the bunch, and Johnny Mundt, the career overachiever, split time with the first unit as camp opened Wednesday. But keep a close eye on Robert Tonyan, once a favorite target of Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay and now an intriguing Vikings hopeful after a down year in Chicago last season.

Hockenson is ahead of schedule, according to coach Kevin O’Connell, and looked very good sprinting on the sideline without a brace or sleeve on the knee during the first day of training camp. O’Connell hasn’t ruled Hockenson out for Week 1 but has hinted that’s unlikely.

Hockenson is on the physically-unable-to-perform (PUP) list. If he starts the season on PUP, he has to miss the first four games.

Hockenson set career highs for catches (95) and yards (960) while playing through two broken ribs suffered in the Week 9 game in Atlanta. He played in 15 games before going down against the Lions. Oliver, the 6-5, 259-pounder and priority signing as a run blocker on Day 1 of last year’s free agency period, caught 22 balls for 213 yards and two touchdowns. Mundt, an O’Connell favorite going back to his Super Bowl-winning days with the Rams, caught 17 passes for 172 yards and his second career touchdown. Nick Muse, a seventh-round pick in 2022, notched his first and only career reception, a 22-yarder.

In: Tonyan (free agent from Chicago), Trey Knox (rookie free agent), N’Keal Harry (former Patriots first-round pick switched from receiver), Sammis Reyes (Talachuano, Chile native who is on the International Player Pathway roster exemption list).

The Vikings will lean on more than one backup as they await Hockenson’s return. Oliver and Mundt are reliable short-term options with diverse skillsets. Tonyan is the wild card with the higher ceiling. Tonyan is 30 as he enters his seventh season. Can he recapture some of his 2020 Packers season, when he caught 52 of 58 targets from Rodgers while posting 586 yards and a head-turning 11 touchdowns? Or is he just a fading player who caught 11 balls for 112 yards and no touchdowns while playing all 17 games with little QB support in Chicago in 2023?

How many games will Hockenson miss? O’Connell and the Vikings err on the side of extreme caution when it comes to player safety, especially players coming back from injuries, let alone major ones. Clearly, Hockenson is ahead of schedule, as O’Connell noted, but the team will not rush him back in any way.

The safest route would be to keep Hockenson on PUP to start the regular season, saving a roster spot for an extra tight end as Hockenson builds more strength and trust in the knee during the first four games. In that scenario, it then becomes a question of whether the Vikings would play him Week 5 or use the Week 6 bye to give Hockenson two more weeks while only missing one more game. Last year, the Vikings sat Justin Jefferson and his ailing hamstring an extra week, probably gambling that they could beat the Bears at home heading into the bye. A gamble they lost.

If the Vikings believe Hockenson will be 100% before Week 4, they could take him off PUP and use him at some point as they open with a winnable road game against the Giants, back-to-back home games against the 49ers and Texans, and a division game in Green Bay.