Chariton athlete brings prototypical TE body to Iowa City

Fairly recently, Iowa had as many as eight tight ends on scholarship. Players change positions, graduations are achieved and, all of the sudden, the Hawkeyes have two seniors and a junior holding down the position in 2015.

Yes, Jon Wisnieski is an up-and-coming sophomore and has a chance to be the immediate future at the position, but there is opportunity.

That opportunity and a lifelong dream of being a Hawkeye drew Chariton tight end T.J. Hockenson, who committed to the Hawkeyes on Friday night. Hockenson, who had 73 receptions for 1,116 yards and 18 touchdowns last season, picked Iowa over offers from Iowa State and Eastern Michigan.

'I think the whole thing was a dream of mine since I was little,” Hockenson told HawkeyeReport.com. 'I have always been going to Hawkeye games and watching the Hawkeyes play. It has always been a goal of mine to be one of them and I will be living the dream.”

Iowa offered Hockenson after it got a look at him during a one-day camp in early June. Of course with Iowa tight end, coaches wanted to at least assess where Hockenson's blocking skills might be.

'I mean I caught the ball well,” Hockenson told HawkeyeReport.com. 'I think I only missed one pass the whole day. They wanted me to block, which isn't my strong suit obviously because I don't usually block in high school, but they put me out there and wanted to see how I'd react to a defensive end and I reacted well and held my own, I thought, so they were really happy and really impressed with the whole day.”

HawkeyeReport.com talked to Pella coach Jay McKinstrey, whose team faced Chariton and Hockenson.

'In playing against him they put him at wide out and it is a tough matchup,” McKinstrey said. 'We have some good athletes and kids who can run well but when they have a 6-foot-5 wide out he creates tough matchups. He had some catches but we didn't want him to get the big one on us. He creates touch mismatches at the high school level. I would assume he would play tight end in college, so he won't be out wide. He has a great frame to put weight on. He can do great things at tight end for them.”

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