Which Tight Ends Might Be Off Packers’ NFL Draft Board?
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers have a little of everything at tight end. They’ve got the old-school blocker with Marcedes Lewis. They’ve got the new-school receiver with Robert Tonyan. And they’ve got the movable H-back type with Josiah Deguara and Dominique Dafney.
While tight end doesn’t rank high on the list of immediate needs, it could be a major long-term consideration with Tonyan and Lewis headed to free agency next offseason. If Tonyan doesn’t play well after last season’s torn ACL, it will be time to move on. And if he plays like he did in 2020, he might price himself out of town.
In the 16 drafts conducted by Ted Thompson and Brian Gutekunst, the Packers selected nine tight ends. If the Packers have a secret sauce, that secret is tucked away like The Colonel’s 11 herbs and spices.
While the prototypical tight end might be 6-foot-4 or 6-foot-5, the Packers have drafted two “short” tight ends: D.J. Williams (6-foot-2 1/8) with a fifth-round pick in 2011 and Deguara (6-2 3/8) with a third-round pick in 2020.
The slowest of the drafted tight ends was Richard Rodgers, a third-round pick in 2014 who ran a 4.87 in his 40-yard dash. That’s considerably slower than the historic Combine average of 4.78.
Eight of the nine ran the 20-yard shuttle faster than 4.50 seconds, with Andrew Quarless (4.55) being the outlier. The Combine average is 4.38.
Seven of the nine had hands measuring at least 9 3/4 inches. Heading into the 2020 draft, Kennard Backman (9 3/8) was the lone outlier. Deguara’s hands measured just 9 inches, so we put him on the “maybe you can forget” list. Oops. That’s part of the intrigue of the draft. The more you know, the less you understand.
Relative Athletic Score is a way to combine height/weight/athleticism numbers and put them on a 0-to-10 scale. The Packers have drafted a parade of mediocre athletes. In fact, the most athletic tight end drafted by the Packers during the Thompson-Gutekunst era was Clark Harris in 2005. He’s the Bengals’ longtime long snapper.
The RAS of the nine, listed in chronological order: Deguara, 6.69; Jace Sternberger, 5.20; Kennard Backman, 5.97; Rodgers, 4.57; Williams, 5.69; Ryan Taylor, 6.80; Quarless, 6.29; Jermichael Finley, 6.42; Harris, 7.82.
In case you were wondering, Tonyan measured 6-foot-4 5/8 and 236 pounds before the 2017 draft. He ran his 40 in 4.58 seconds and his shuttle in 4.34 seconds, and posted a RAS of 8.84. With 10 1/4-inch hands, it’s little wonder why he didn’t drop any passes during his breakout 2020 season.
So, who’s out based on testing numbers? Given Green Bay’s history, it might consider anyone with a pulse and a 40 time faster than a minute. That said, here are the draft-worthy prospects who tested incredibly poorly:
40: Texas A&M’s Jalen Wydermyer was across-the-board bad. His 40 was 5.01. Also: Coastal Carolina’s Isaiah Likely (4.82), Nebraska’s Austin Allen (4.83), San Jose State’s Derrick Deese Jr. (4.90), Oregon State’s Teagan Quitoriano (4.93).
Hands: None, based on Deguara.
Shuttle: Likely (4.57), Quitoriano (4.50). It’s worth noting several draft-worthy prospects didn’t run a shuttle (or three-cone drill) by choice or due to injuries.
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