Packers Swap Tight Ends on Practice Squad

The Green Bay Packers on Tuesday signed former North Dakota State tight end Josh Babicz to their practice squad.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Oct 25, 2022 5:52 PM EDT

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GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers signed tight end Josh Babicz to their practice squad on Tuesday. As part of the transaction, they released tight end Shaun Beyer.

Babicz went undrafted this year out of North Dakota State, where he was teammates with Packers receiver Christian Watson. He spent training camp with the Carolina Panthers and served a couple stints on their practice squad. He caught one pass for 3 yards in the preseason.

Babicz was a two-time member of the all-Missouri Valley Conference team. He earned second-team honors as a senior with his 12 receptions for 254 yards (21.2 average) and four touchdowns. Mostly, his job was to block. He helped power the second-ranked rushing offense in FCS.

“Our offense is really tailored to be more NFL style,” Babicz told InForum.com before pro day. “We run the pro-style offense. It’s tremendous how much the program has helped me prepare for being ready to get drafted by the NFL. I feel confident going to whatever team that I can use the skills I’ve learned.”

At NDSU’s pro day, he measured 6-foot-5 7/8 and 255 pounds. He ran his 40 in just 4.87 seconds but showed his explosiveness with a 37-inch vertical leap.

“I’ve definitely increased my physicality, my toughness,” Babicz told Pro Football Network before the draft. “Those are two big characteristics you need to play the tight end position. You need to be gritty, you need to work your butt off. You have to do a facet of things. You’ve got to block, you’ve got to know the whole route tree. You’ve got to learn all the motions, every place on the field. That being drilled into me from Day 1, makes sure I have the physicality that I need to continue into the next level.”

That toughness came through hard work and development. At Barrington (Ill.) High School, he played tight end, receiver and quarterback in football as well as basketball and volleyball.

"Football has always been great for me," he told The Chicago Tribune upon committing to NDSU. "I was a starter at quarterback but chose to switch because my thoughts were I just wanted to play, so I had to try my hardest to get on the field any way possible. I decided to just try receiver and see what happens. (Tight end) is kind of a new position. Whatever got me to college, I'm going to try and excel, whatever position they put me at."

His parents came to the United States from Poland when they were kids.

The Packers signed Beyer to their practice squad on Aug. 31. A block-first tight end at Iowa, he spent most of training camp this summer with the Vikings.