Detroit Lions 1st-round pick T.J. Hockenson already making highlights at minicamp

Detroit Lions first-round pick T.J. Hockenson has a lot of pressure on his shoulders. Not only will he be partially responsible for turning around a tight end position that held the offense back last year, but as a top-10 pick at an untraditional position like tight end, Hockenson will have to really impress to live up to extremely high expectations.

Well, Hockenson has already made a pretty darn good impression at this week’s rookie minicamp. In the official highlights provided by DetroitLions.com of the first two days of practice, Hockenson provided the biggest highlight from both sessions.

First, on Friday, he showed just how aggressive and strong he can be as a blocker:

Then on Saturday, he showed off those money-makers, his reliable hands:

Now, before we get out of control overhyping a guy because of two short highlights, let’s reel it in for a second. The highlights provided by the team are obviously going to be heavily manicured, making sure only to show the good plays from camp. Additionally, we have no idea how much weight was on that blocking sled, so knocking it over may look cool, but may not actually be that impressive.

Regardless, it’s hard to not get a little hyped about Hockenson. He’s billed as a do-it-all tight end, and these highlights seem to support that.

There’s nothing wrong with a little bit of optimism, and these highlights provide just enough of a taste of what Hockenson may bring to the Lions offense this year and, hopefully, for years to come.

You can watch the full Day 1 and Day 2 highlights here.

UPDATE: Full disclosure, after looking at that second catch a little closer, it does look like it skidded off the turf: