Tight end is, without question, one of the biggest positional needs that the Green Bay Packers have to address this offseason. The good news is that this is a talented tight end draft class.
For starters, they simply need players at the position. At the moment, the only players under contract are Josiah Deguara, along with Nick Guggemos and Austin Allen, two members of the 2022 practice squad who were signed to futures deals for 2023. The other main reason is that the Packers must have more playmaking at the position.
Robert Tonyan averaged just 8.9 yards per catch last season, ranking 34th out of the 42 qualifying tight ends. As I wrote earlier in the season, I do believe that this was in part due to how he was utilized, with him often being targeted around the line of scrimmage, along with helping out as a blocker, especially early on in the season. However, he also struggled to make defenders miss as well. Deguara and Lewis, meanwhile, were used primarily as blockers, with Tyler Davis being a core special teams player.
Just sit back and watch some highlights of these 2022 NFL playoffs, and you’ll see fairly quickly the impact that a tight end with some playmaking abilities can have on an offense. Although there are many things that contributed to the Packers’ passing game woes, the lack of consistent production from the tight end position was a contributor.
Recently, Daniel Jeremiah of NFL.comDaniel Jeremiah of NFL.com highlighted the depth of the 2023 draft class at the tight end position. He mentioned that he had six tight ends ranked in his top 50 overall players. Here is a quick look at Jeremiah’s top five from this class, listed in order.
Dalton Kincaid (Utah): At 6’4″ – 240 pounds, Kincaid caught 66 of 87 passes in 2022 at 12.9 yards per catch with eight touchdowns. He lined up on over 50% of his snaps from the slot and ranked 81st out of 200 tight ends in PFF’s run-blocking grade.
Darnell Washington (Georgia): Washington, who is listed at 6’7″ – 270 pounds, was targeted 39 times in 2022 and caught 25 of those passes at an impressive 16.1 yards per catch with a touchdown. His average of 7.5 yards after the catch was the 15th-best rate in college football last season. Washington ranked eighth in PFF’s run-blocking grade.
Michael Mayer (Notre Dame): A very popular pick for the Packers at 15 in mock drafts recently, Mayer is considered by many the top tight end in this class. He measures in at 6’4″ – 265 pounds and has been a big part of the Notre Dame offense with 227 career targets, including 101 in 2022. He caught 66% of those passes at 12.1 yards per catch with nine touchdowns. Mayer was the sixth-best run-blocking tight end by PFF’s grading system.
Luke Musgrave (Oregon State): The 6’6″ – 215 pound tight end played in only two games last season but was targeted 15 times during that span. For his career, he caught 44 of his 76 targets at 13.4 yards per catch with two touchdowns. During the 2021 season, Musgrave had nearly 370 run-blocking snaps.
Sam LaPorta (Iowa): The 6’4″ – 249 pound LaPorta had 207 career targets over four years with the Hawkeyes, 83 of which came this past season. He caught 64% of those targets at 11.2 yards per catch with a touchdown. He played about one-third of his snaps from the slot and ranked 162nd in run-blocking grade this past season.
While it certainly is good timing for the Packers that this is an impressive tight end class, it’s also important to keep in mind that rarely do we see rookie tight ends make a significant impact. The transition from college to the NFL is difficult for every position, but that seems particularly true for tight ends, who have to know blocking techniques and responsibilities like a lineman but also route concepts like a receiver. So the positive is that the Packers have options; the potential downside is that they need an impact player now.
When it comes to free agency, Green Bay, once again, is going to be limited in what they can do because of their salary cap situation. Currently, Over the Cap projects that the Packers are $16 million over the projected salary cap. The Packers will have to restructure their way to solvency but won’t have much spending power.
There are a few notable tight ends hitting free agency this spring, including Mike Gesicki, Dalton Schultz, Evan Engram, and Hayden Hurst. While Green Bay still has Deguara, unless they plan to actually use him in the passing game, bringing in a veteran to pair with a rookie would be the prudent move to make–again, if they’re able to. On the flip side, if Tonyan and Lewis end up back in Green Bay, all of a sudden, this underwhelming tight end room doesn’t look much different in 2023.
A lack of planning ahead at this position has put the Packers in a bit of a bind, with it feeling like they have to take an early-round tight end. Fortunately, they have options in the draft, but as we saw in 2022 with several members of the rookie class, those initial seasons can come with a lot of ups and downs.
