I think Barnes biggest fan has moved on to Hock and started making videos
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Goff was either late and behind Hockenson or he was in front of Chark. Either way, it was a bad throw by Goff. There is no way it was where it needed to be.
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I usually agree with mostly everything you post but this just comes off as you have a bone to pick with this YouTuber for some reason and it feels like you’re willfully letting Goff off the hook for some reason just to prove this guy wrong.
I don’t think we needed this YouTube analyst’s snippet to see that Hockenson has been M.I.A. And that Goff’s accuracy hasn’t been the best.
His body language is something mentioned by myself and many people here. What do you think is the reason TJ has been M.I.A? Are you suggesting he just runs poor routes and we need to let him go?
Are we disagreeing over his tone or his words? ARSB is absolutely Goff’s darling. Just like Reynolds was before he emerged. He needs to get his confidence up.
I think TJ is trying hard… and I thought mk his body language is just a sign of frustration that he isn’t having the level of success he wants to achieve. I don’t know if he is “pressing” or “thinking” too much much… but there just seem to be some mental lapses pop up occasionally. I’m not advocating that tje Lions trade Hock or even bench him… I just think he can step his game up.
I mostly posted my response to show that the Youtuber was only looking at the result of the play to fit his narrative. The guy was talking about the wrong coverage (cover 2) on 1 play, didn’t recognize that 1 play was a designed play to get Swift the ball, didn’t see that another play was designed to scheme Hock open, didn’t account for the Goff having to throw a ball with a D-lineman in his path, and then flat admitted that Hock needed to catch a dropped ball on a play he called as wrong down and distance.
His analysis was terrible.
As for ARSB and Swift being “favored” by Goff as the Youtuber laments… why wouldn’t they be his favored targets?
ARSB is exactly where Goff expects him to be on almost every route, and has about the lowest drop rate in the NFL in the time he has played.
Swift offers more after the catch than just about anyone… and most of his touches have been designed to get him the ball.
And… one last thing… is that the Youtuber was focusing on Hock being “made a punching bag” because they weren’t running him on more vertical routes. His ADOT (average depth of target) was 7.6 in the 2nd game. In his career… his ADOT was 7.5 in 2019 (mostly due to his 1st game), then 7.0 in 2020, and 7.4 in 2021. It really has changed with Goff and the new staff.
Even after TJ had several drops… Ben Johnson called his number as the primary target on a play action pass 16 yards downfield with a 1 score lead on a critical series. This play really disputes the narrative of that Youtuber….
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You slayed it Phunny
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Extend Hock, a TE who can’t block for shit or create separation on his routes, for anything other than league TE average at best?
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Yeah definitely not playing like a top 10 pick. That being said, I like him more than most on this board do. The lack of separation up to this point so far is a valid concern though…
TJ has 14 targets…so far.
Hock has 14 targets… 7 catches… a few drops…
and only 64 yards.
Kelce has 16 targets… 13 catches for 172 yards.
Mark Andrews… 18 targets, 14 rec, and 154 yards.
Njoku… 16 targets, 13 rec, 128 yards.
Waller… 14 targets, 10 rec, 129 yards.
Goedert… 10 targets, 8 rec, 142 yards
It doesn’t take huge volume to have more impact.
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yeah that wasn’t my main point…it was that Hock had 64 to 67 yards , his peers-as you mention , no fewer than 130 to 170 yards in comparison. the 172, was 16 targets vs Tj’s 14 and yards in the 60’s.
my reason for the thread was TJ is behind by at least double yards…injury, effort , drops, lack of interest ? , who knows…but it’s troubling.
I saw this catch from Mark Andrews against New England…
and unfortunately… my first thought was that we will never see a catch like that from Hock.
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You’re right ASRB is where Goff expects him to be. And he saves him from looking bad with inaccurate passes
Ever. He’s a scrub. If you didn’t want Jesse James I don’t see how you want TJ.
EDIT: if ASRB is out next week. We might see BJ try to scheme TJ the way they did ASRB. Which would be a plus
For Hock’s agent…. maybe.
Then again… if he drops a few more passes ot won’t really help his negotiations.
If blocking ability comes up… I hope his agent is able to destroy the
fipm on this play……
I don’t mean to beat a dead horse…
but these 2 plays were a significant swing of momentum for the offense and the game overall. It was the Lions’ 4th drive… and they had moved the ball well on the previous 3 drives with 2 TDs…
and then 3rd down and 8 yards to go comes up.
Hock is the 1st read… against quarters coverage.
He needs to press the safety vertically to get to the sticks.
But… he starts to round off his out route only 5 yards.
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Which allows the safety to break on his route…
and he is tackled 2 yards short of the sticks.
Terrible route there.
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But… Lions go for it on 4th and 2 to go… and call his number again.
In fact… this play is really well designed.
Lions start with Hock split out.
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Then motion him in tight….
and use the motion of Brock Wright to draw the safety’s attention.
.
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Hock briefly pins Z. Smith… but then releases without getting upfield at all… which allows Kendricks to close on him quickly.
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and he is short of the sticks again!!!
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Short of the sticks on 4th and 2!
2 yds and he didn’t get the required depth.
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Clearly he’s got to get to sticks, but both MC/DC and Ben Johnson were TE coaches, this has to be a big point of emphasis moving forward. No point in running a 1 yard route on 4th and 2. It’s also very predictable and the defense knows you are throwing for the sticks, run a intermediate route, might be wide open.
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Reggie Bush used to run lazy, rounded routes, too. Drove me nuts.
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It should have BEEN a point of emphasis. Maybe both sides already understand TJ won’t be here long term?
Or maybe us fans are just hanging onto this idea of TJ as a featured TE when in fact he isn’t and are disappointed that the coaching staff isn’t showcasing him because they already understand this about him.
I still think Goff, for as good as he has been playing, had to take a lot of blame. Why even throw it so short of the sticks. It’s not even like he has a chance to make a play on the ball. Get in TJs face after the play!
Is it because Tj is actually the decoy? And goff shouldn’t have thrown it? I noticed that on another 3rd down. And it’s been consistently like that for these past 3 weeks.
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IMO… TJ was the 1st read on both plays…
and I think they had the coverage they wanted on both plays…
so i think it was the right choice for Goff to throw it him.
Goff really didn’t have time to let the longer routes develop.
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This! I think many fans are hanging onto Hock’s draft status. He’s a decent tight end, nothing more and nothing less. He didn’t draft himself, that’s on the previous regime for drafting him in the top 10. He’s a better starting Tight end than many teams have, but his draft status will always linger over him.
Hock should have probably been a 3rd round pick and we’d all be moderately pleased with the pick. Tight ends in 1st round is nuts, unless they are legit pass catchers like Pitts, who aint a real TE.
Just look at all the top TE’s in the NFL in the past several years, they aren’t 1st round picks. Kelce - 3rd round, Kittle - 5th round, Gronk - 2nd round. Waller - 6th round.
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