Predraft Visit Latest Sign of Packers’ Strong Interest in Tight End

Even in a strong class of tight ends, not many of the prospects can help as a receiver and blocker. The Green Bay Packers have shown an incredible amount of interest in one of them, Josh Whyle.

Author:
Bill Huber
Updated:
Apr 14, 2023 1:01 PM EDT
Original:
Apr 14, 2023

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – There’s only so many interviews available during the NFL Draft process, so it’s noteworthy when a team talks to a player at the Senior Bowl, uses one of its 45 Scouting Combine interviews on that player and then brings him in for one of the 30 allowed predraft visits.

But that’s the case with Cincinnati’s Josh Whyle. One of the more underrated players in a strong group of tight end prospects, Whyle had a predraft visit with the Green Bay Packers, according to a source.

The Packers have a massive hole at tight end. Only four players are under contract and only have ever played in a game. One of those, Josiah Deguara, is more of a fullback than a tight end.

“You're going to get a coachable player, a hard-working player, a tough player and a guy that really cares about the locker room. I think that's where great success starts,” Whyle said at the Scouting Combine.

Whyle measured 6-foot-6 1/2 and 248 pounds at the Scouting Combine, where he ran his 40 in 4.69 seconds – a good time for a man his size. A member of Bruce Feldman’s coveted “Freaks” list headed into 2022, Whyle’s Relative Athletic Score was 8.98 on a 0-to-10 scale.

In a strong group of tight ends, Whyle is one of the few players who can immediately help a team as a receiver and blocker. He could sneak into Day 2.

Whyle caught 86 passes for 1,011 yards and 15 touchdowns during his final three seasons. He caught six touchdown passes in 2020 and six more in 2021 before catching a career-high 32 passes, which he turned into 326 yards and three touchdowns in 2022 to earn first-team all-AAC. His drop rate of 3.0 percent was fifth-best in the draft class.

At a school that produced future Hall of Famer Travis Kelce, 11-year pro Brent Celek and Deguara, Whyle scored more touchdowns than any tight end in Bearcats history.

“I came in and having Trav (Kelce) that went there, Celek – he went to my high school, as well – and then I got to see Josiah (Deguara). It really made me feel like, ‘Oh, I can do this.’ We have a sign up in our room that says, ‘Through these halls walk the best tight ends in the country.’ And that’s just kind of a belief, and that’s just kind of how I try to go around the building through my five years there, and just kind of continue it on for the younger guys so they feel the same way.”

Whyle is more than just a receiver, though. He’s also big enough to handle blocking duties and showed major strides in that phase in 2022.

“My first four years there, it was a little unclear about who we should block and when,” he said at the Combine. “But this past year, we kind of had a couple of changes in the offense that made it really clear-cut who we were going to block and where. I think that really helped my confidence, and it really helped me engage blocks, use my hands and just be really confident in what I do. And also putting on a couple pounds helped.”

He put on a few more pounds – about 10, actually, at the Senior Bowl before slimming back down for the predraft testing.

“Going into Senior Bowl, I feel like the question that's been on my name has been about my weight and how it's fluctuated throughout the years,” he said at pro day. “I came into Senior Bowl a little heavy and weighed in at 260 pounds.

“I just want to show the coaches that I am comfortable playing a little bit heavier. You can still split me out, put me in the box, and do whatever with me. That’s been my biggest thing. I weighed in a little bit lighter here and at the combine, so maybe I can get a tick off my time, but that’s been the biggest thing.”

Whyle missed most of his 2018 freshman season with a broken collarbone and played sparingly behind Deguara in 2019 due to some nagging injuries. Headed into the 2020 season, the coaches told him he had to get his “stuff together” if he wanted to maximize his potential.

Message received with three consecutive all-conference seasons and being voted team captain for 2022.

Whyle said he’s been training in California with two of the other top tight ends in the class, potential first-round picks Michael Mayer of Notre Dame and Darnell Washington of Georgia.

“My thought process is that I just want to go somewhere that's going to utilize me in the right ways,” he said. “I want to be a part of a team that wants me and wants to win championships and Super Bowls.”