Fantasy Impact: School of 'Hard Knocks' For Dan Campbell, Not T.J. Hockenson

The Lions head coach is standing out on Hard Knocks and we're hoping his tight end T.J. Hockenson stands out too.

The biggest star of HBO's Hard Knocks, without question, is Lions head coach Dan Campbell.  

Last night's episode kicked off with another bizarre yet strangely inspirational object lesson as Campbell addressed the room, shaking chalk out of a dirty pair of sweatpants.

I can't make this up. It was weird.  

And it worked.  

At this point, I would probably run into traffic for Campbell. Am I becoming a Lions fan? Maybe. Am I becoming a Campbell fan? Definitely.

All of this got me thinking: We know what Dan Campbell is like as a coach, but what was he like as a fantasy player? I did a little digging and found out. 

Campbell's best season as a player was with the Detroit Lions in 2006. That year, Campbell had 308 receiving yards and four receiving touchdowns. He would have finished the season with 75 PPR points or 54 points in a standard league.  

Across his ten-year career, Campbell racked up a grand total of 248 PPR points.   

That's a long way from starving. 

Now, to be fair, Campbell was known for his blocking. But can you imagine Campbell, the fantasy player, playing for Campbell, the coach?      

MARK HOFFMAN/MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Let's hope Detroit's TE T.J. Hockenson is more concerned about treading water, or better yet, biting kneecaps for fantasy managers this year.

Hockenson is coming off the board as the 7th TE in current fantasy drafts. Many fantasy coaches may shy away from Hock after his season was cut short due to injury, leaving a bad taste in their mouths, but Hockenson saw an average of seven targets per game before his injury. That's the fifth-most amongst tight ends in 2021. On a per-game basis, Hock also finished with the sixth-most PPR points for TE in 2021. Now entering his third year in the league and fully healthy, Hockensen is a mid-round target that could easily finish Top 5 at the position.   

Stay hungry, Hock.