ALLEN PARK -- I know the exact moment when it hit me that T.J. Hockenson would be a serious candidate for the Detroit Lions in the NFL draft.

It happened at the combine in February. The tight end toed the podium for his press conference, and everything was business-as-usual for eight questions. He was asked what he thought about going in the first round with teammate Noah Fant, about his decision to leave Iowa early, about his favorite routes, about Gronk.

Then he was asked about playing for head coach Kirk Ferentz and offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz at Iowa. He paused. He tried to collect himself. It became obvious he was trying to choke back tears.

“Oh, I can’t say enough good things about the Ferentzes,” Hockenson said, voice starting to crack. “They’ve put me in this position. I love them to death. Coach Brian Ferentz has taught me a lot. Coach Kirk Ferentz is a mentor of mine. He’s a person I’ve tried to be. And just being a part of that program was really special to me.”

OK, so it’s not exactly unusual to hear a draft pick tout his college coaching. But it is highly unusual to see a player get so emotional about it. It’s also interesting to note the Ferentzes’ connection to the Bill Belichick world, and it’s among the many reasons I sent Hockenson to Detroit in my final mock draft.

Kirk Ferentz was hired by Belichick to coach the Browns’ offensive line in 1993. They remain close to this day. So close, Belichick hired Ferentz’s son Brian as a scouting assistant in 2008. Brian Ferentz went on to become a Patriots offensive coaching assistant in 2009, then was promoted to tight ends coach before leaving to join his father in Iowa City.

And the two programs have a whole lot in common, culture-wise.

“They definitely talk about Coach Belichick and the (Patriots) culture,” Hockenson said of the Ferentzes, “and the culture they’ve built at Iowa is so special.”

Of course, that’s the same culture Matt Patricia is trying to build in Detroit. He had some problems doing it last year, too. Not everyone bought in. That caused a lot of problems, especially early. And the Lions have spent this offseason adding good players, yes, but also prioritizing players they know would be culture fits.

Trey Flowers played for New England. So did Danny Amendola. And Justin Coleman.

"Who are the guys who want to work hard?” Patricia said. "Who wants to do it the right way? Who are the guys who are trying to help us build longstanding success? Who are the guys who want to study the game and work hard at it? There’s just a different level of work ethic that some of the guys have that are going to come in, and that we’re developing."

Hockenson, by all accounts, is that same kind of player. And the Lions don't just have to take his word for it either. They can hear it straight from a coaching staff they trust. That matters to them, too. They talked to Urban Meyer before taking Taylor Decker in the first round of the 2016 draft. They talked to Nick Saban about A'Shawn Robinson and Da'Shawn Hand. They talked to Jim Harbaugh about Graham Glasgow and Jake Rudock.

There are so many factors that go into a draft pick, but Bob Quinn clearly prefers using early-round picks on guys he can vet. High ceilings are nice, sure, but Quinn seems more interested in high floors. And being able to get reliable intel is a part of that process.

They can do that with Hockenson, too, if they are interested in him. And they really ought to be interested in him.

Remember, while they stumbled to a 6-10 finish last season, the defense played really well down the stretch. Now they’ve added instant starters like Flowers and Coleman. That side of the ball really isn’t the problem. It’s the offense, which fell apart after the Golden Tate trade in the middle of last season. Losing Marvin Jones two weeks later didn’t help, of course, and Kerryon Johnson eventually joined him on the sideline.

But the tight end play was atrocious too. Luke Willson was supposed to shine once he stepped out of Jimmy Graham’s shadow in Seattle, but managed just 13 catches for 87 yards, no touchdowns and finished the season on injured reserve. Now he’s out, and so is blocking tight end Levine Toiolo.

The Lions did sign Jesse James, which should be a huge upgrade. But the only guys with any kind of NFL experience behind him are Michael Roberts and Logan Thomas, neither of whom has done much at this level.

Detroit just might have had the worst group of tight ends in the league last year, crippling an already-undermanned offense. So it makes a lot of sense the Lions would use their top-10 pick to add the most dynamic offensive player possible. The way my board breaks, that player is Hockenson. He was an ultra-reliable pass catcher at Iowa, dropping just one of his 64 targets last season. He gained 2.21 yards per route run, which was fourth best among all draft-eligible tight ends. Kind of amazing, when you consider he had to fight for footballs with another first-round tight end prospect in Noah Fant.

Fant is a more dynamic athlete, a guy who can split out and beat people with his speed. If the Lions are looking for that cut of tight end, perhaps they try to trade into the back half of the first round for him.

But what really separates Hockenson is that while he's a great pass-catcher, he also happens to be the best blocker in this class. And that must be attractive to a team like the Lions, which wants to play ball-control offense. That means running the football, which of course means you have to block. And Hockenson is an absolute road-grader.

"I think he’s the safest player in the draft," NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said. "Part of the benefit for him in terms of what I gave him and where I ranked him, I did him the day after watching Rob Gronkowski live in person in the playoff game against the Chargers, and I saw Gronk completely dominate a football game without really having to catch the ball. He was just so dominant in the run game.

"Then I flip on this kid, and he’s not as tall as Gronk, and I don’t compare anybody to Gronk -- he’s on a whole different level in terms of what he can do -- but I saw this kid with that same temperament and nastiness in the run game and controlling the run game, and then on top of that, he does nothing but get open and catch everything they throw to him. He’s going to be a very valuable player with a very high floor."

Safest player in the draft? Very high floor? Cut from the same cloth as a former Patriots star?

Tell me this isn't a Bob Quinn-type draft pick. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Listen, there are so many different directions the Lions could go in the eight-hole, including moving out of it entirely. Nobody knows what they're going to do. They used their first-round pick last year on Frank Ragnow, a guy no local reporter or analyst had going in the first round at all. So, yeah. We don't know anything.

But Hockenson checks as many boxes as anyone. He plays a major position of need, on Detroit’s weakest side of the ball. He would contribute in a variety of ways, including giving Matthew Stafford another badly-needed target. He’d pave roads in the run game. He has high character and intangibles. He’s considered one of the safest picks in this draft. And he’s the product of an NFL-type system that is run by people Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia trust.

For all these reasons, Hockenson has become a trendy pick for Detroit. So trendy, I really tried to think outside the box and go another direction. But I just couldn’t figure out how to do it. No matter which name I tried to swap in there, I just liked Hockenson for Detroit more.