12 Days Until Training Camp: Packers Tight Ends Preview

The Green Bay Packers will be counting on their tight ends to help offset the loss of Davante Adams. Here is the depth chart, rising star, big question and much more.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Jul 15, 2022 9:59 AM EDT

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – How will the Green Bay Packers replace Davante Adams’ production? A healthy Robert Tonyan would help. With the first practice of training camp set for July 27, here is a preview of the tight ends.

Packers Tight Ends Depth Chart

Robert Tonyan couldn’t capitalize on his 2020 bounce-back season due to a torn ACL suffered at midseason in 2021. So, his production plummeted from 52 receptions for 586 yards and 11 touchdowns to 18 receptions for 204 yards and two touchdowns. The last two seasons, he has 70 receptions and one drop. Other than Randall Cobb, no player on the roster has caught more touchdown passes from Aaron Rodgers than Tonyan (15).

Marcedes Lewis is a heart-and-soul type of player, valued for his grit and leadership. The oldest tight end in the NFL, he remains a premier blocker. He can still catch, too. He caught 23-of-28 targets for 214 yards last season to help fill the void created by Tonyan’s injury. His fumble completely drained the Packers of their early mojo in the NFC Championship Game. During OTAs, he said, “If you care, you’re going to have nightmares. That’s exactly what happened. Watching as the playoffs went on, it’s like, ‘Damn, that’s a play I wish I had back.’”

Tyler Davis took Tonyan’s role during the offseason and showed some potential. A sixth-round pick in 2020, the Packers grabbed him off the Colts’ practice squad in late September. He played in 14 games – 88 of his 121 snaps came during the final four games – and caught four passes for 35 yards. Davis started his college career as a quarterback, just like Tonyan. “I’ve got tons of clips of Bobby on my iPad that I watch every day,” he said in May.

Josiah Deguara is a tight end in name only. A third-round pick in 2020, his value is to play here, there and everywhere. Coming back from a torn ACL that ruined his rookie season, he played 367 snaps last season. According to PFF, he played 162 snaps as a traditional tight end, 108 as a slot receiver, 53 as a wide receiver and 44 at fullback. He caught 25-of-33 passes (75.8 percent) for 245 yards (9.8 average) and two touchdowns. The highlight of his season was a 62-yard, catch-and-run touchdown at Detroit.

Dominique Dafney was limited to 10 games last season. He caught two passes for 34 yards, highlighted by a 26-yarder in the finale at Detroit. Like Deguara, he plays what former tight ends coach Justin Outten called the “universal” role. The former nightclub bouncer blocked well but was targeted only four times in the passing game.

Alize Mack was a seventh-round pick by the Saints in 2019 but still has not played in an NFL game. At Notre Dame, Mack was suspended for the 2016 season for academic reasons. Then-coach Brian Kelly’s advice? “‘It’s either going to be the best thing that happens to you or the worst,’” Mack recalled. For Mack, it was the best thing. He caught 19 passes for 166 yards in 2017 and 36 passes for 360 yards and three touchdowns – all career highs – in 2018.

Eli Wolf started his collegiate career as a walk-on at Tennessee before finishing at Georgia in 2019, when he caught 13 passes for 194 yards and one touchdown. Wolf spent all of 2020 on the Ravens’ practice squad and the second half of the 2021 season on the Colts’ practice squad. The Packers added him in May. He is the second member of his family to get a shot with the Packers; older brother Ethan also a tight end, spent part of the 2018 season on the practice squad.

Leader of the Pack

Ageless Marcedes Lewis is a revered figure, which is why the Packers paid his $2.08 million roster bonus. The oldest tight end in the NFL, Lewis is entering his 17th season. Barring some sort of calamity, that would tie Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez and future Hall of Famer Jason Witten for most seasons by a tight end in NFL history.

Lewis pummels defenders as a blocker as well as on those rare occasions he’s given the ball. Last season, 53 tight ends were targeted at least 25 times. According to Pro Football Focus, Lewis ranked third in catch percentage (82.1), first in drop percentage (0.0) and eighth in yards after the catch per catch (6.5).

Rising Star

It’s hard to call a 28-year-old player a “rising star” but this has to be Robert Tonyan. He is one of the most important players on the roster. The Packers badly missed his production last season. With a feel for getting open and superb hands, he was phenomenal in 2020. Of the 49 tight ends who were targeted at least 25 times, Tonyan was No. 1 in catch percentage (89.7) and drop percentage (0.0) and No. 2 passer rating (148.3), according to PFF. He matched Travis Kelce for No. 1 in touchdowns.

There’s a decent chance Tonyan will be on the field for Week 1. Given his connection with Aaron Rodgers, which started being built in 2017 when Tonyan was added to the practice squad and Rodgers was recovering from a broken collarbone, he could be a big factor in helping replace Davante Adams’ production.

The Training Camp Battle

Josiah Deguara vs. Dominique Dafney play similar roles on the offense. Maybe that all-over-the-formation role is so important to coach Matt LaFleur that the Packers will need both. But with Robert Tonyan, Marcedes Lewis and Tyler Davis looking like locks to make the roster, there’s a chance that only one of these players will make the final 53. An interesting note: During one of the early OTAs, Dafney worked with the starting offense on one side of the field while Deguara toiled with the rookies and bottom-of-depth-chart players on the other end.

The Big Question

Was Robert Tonyan a one-year wonder? Tonyan should have been a Pro Bowler in 2020. He was dominant with 52 catches, 11 touchdowns and zero drops. If it seemed like he was wide open on every one of those catches, it’s because that’s almost true. He had only one contested catch. For comparison, Miami’s Mike Gesicki caught 53 passes in 2020, with 17 of those being contested.

Tonyan wasn’t nearly as productive last season. In 2021, he caught 18-of-29 targets – meaning there were 11 incomplete passes in a half-season vs. seven for all of 2020. To adequately replace Davante Adams, it’s going to take contributions from a lot of players. Tonyan needs to have a big role.

Best-Case Scenario

Robert Tonyan has a bounce-back season to make the Packers’ tight end corps one of the best in the NFL. This is a room full of specialists. Tonyan is the receiver who can block. Marcedes Lewis is the blocker who can catch. Josiah Deguara does a little of everything. Combined, this group could be more than the sum of its individual parts, but that starts with Tonyan getting open downfield and catching everything thrown within his ZIP code. With the question marks at receiver, perhaps the Packers can just hammer away with Tonyan, Lewis, Tyler Davis and Deguara/Dominique Dafney in a revolving door of two- and three-tight-end sets.

Worst-Case Scenario

What if Robert Tonyan was a fluke and Marcedes Lewis gets old? ACLs are fickle – just ask David Bakhtiari – so there’s no guarantee Tonyan will return to his 2020 form. And, at some point, the 37-year-old Lewis is going to act his age. (Right?) As much as the Packers need Tonyan to catch passes and score touchdowns, they really count on Lewis’ blocking to make the offense go. A team can get by with below-average tight end play if it has a group of excellent receivers. The Packers, of course, have a receiver group filled with question marks.

One Superb Stat

Everyone knows Marcedes Lewis’ skill as a blocker. Part of that is due to his extensive training in mixed martial arts. Defenders who sleep on Lewis as a receiver are about to get their bell rung. Last season, Lewis caught 23 passes and forced nine missed tackles, according to Pro Football Focus. That’s as many missed tackles as Baltimore’s Mark Andrews, who caught 107 passes, and more than Arizona’s Zach Ertz (74 catches), Miami’s Mike Gesicki (73), rising stars Noah Fant of Denver and Kyle Pitts of Atlanta (68 catches apieces) and NFC North standouts T.J. Hockenson of Detroit (61) and Cole Kmet of Chicago (60).