MIAMI — T.J. Hockenson’s rookie season was cut short by an ankle injury, but one Hall of Fame tight end said he saw enough in Hockenson to think the Detroit Lions have themselves a future star.

“He can be an All-Pro, no doubt about it,” Fox analyst Tony Gonzalez said Tuesday at Super Bowl 54. “Get him in the right system, he can be an All-Pro.”

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Hockenson, the No. 8 pick in last year’s draft, had one of the best debuts for a tight end in NFL history, catching six passes for 131 yards and a touchdown in a tie with the Arizona Cardinals.

His production tailed off dramatically during the next 12 weeks, and an ankle injury in a Thanksgiving loss to the Chicago Bears sent him to injured reserve.

Hockenson finished the season with 32 catches for 367 yards, third among rookie tight ends, but he impressed Gonzalez in other areas on and off the field.

“He’s great,” Gonzalez said. “He’s great. You know what the luxury of these tight ends that you’re seeing, when I was coming up — back in my day — you didn’t see too much of that receiving-type tight end, being so involved in the offense.

"And so for him to see guys like (Travis) Kelce and to see (George) Kittle in this game, he’s got to be inspired. And watching his ability, he’s a baller. Like, he is on his way to having an outstanding career.”

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Considered the two best tight ends in the NFL, Kittle and Kelce will square off Sunday in the Super Bowl when the San Francisco 49ers play the Kansas City Chiefs.

Their showdown continues a trend of teams with top tight ends playing in the Super Bowl, and perhaps adds insight to why the Lions went to the unusual length of spending a high first-round pick on the position.

Last season, the New England Patriots, with future Hall of Famer Rob Gronkowski, won the Super Bowl. In 2018, Zach Ertz and the Philadelphia Eagles beat Gronkowski and the Patriots for the title.

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“The tight end position just keeps on transcending up, and it just keeps on getting its recognition that it deserves,” Gronkowski said. “I feel like back in the day it didn’t really get the recognition that it really should have, but now it really is and it’s fantastic and it’s great to see players like Kelce and Kittle out there doing what they need to do.”

Kelce, a third-round pick in 2013, led all tight ends with 97 catches for 1,229 yards this season, and Kittle, Hockenson’s former teammate at Iowa and a fifth-rounder in 2017, had his second straight 80-catch, 1,000-yard season.

Hockenson has a long way to go before joining them as the game’s elite tight ends. Gonzalez said he’s willing to help get him there.

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“He’s off to such a great start,” he said. “And like I said, you just got to keep taking it to that next level and you got to keep challenging him. And hopefully I’ll get a chance to talk to him. I talked to all these tight ends, young tight ends in the league, so if you do see him, tell him to reach out to me because to me that’s what separates the good ones from the great ones.

“He’s going to be a good one no matter what. That’s out of the way. It’s like how great do you want to be? And that starts right here and here (in the head and heart). It has nothing to do with what you’re doing on the football field. All that will come, it’s just you got to get your mind and your heart right.”

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett. Read more on the Detroit Lions and sign up for our Lions newsletter.