The Green Bay Packers chose (wisely?) not to address the tight end position in the first round of the NFL draft. The good news is that there are still options available entering Day 2, however, a quick run on the position in the early portion of the second round could force the Packers’ hand.
The only tight end taken in Round 1 was Utah’s Dalton Kincaid. The remaining top options include Michael Mayer, Darnell Washington, Luke Musgrave, and Sam LaPorta, with the Packers holding the 42nd and 45th picks in round two.
We saw during the first round of the draft how quickly a run on a position can take place. The first receiver off the board was Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and that didn’t take place until pick 20. But once Smith-Njigba was taken, the next three consecutive picks were all wide receivers. A similar scenario at the tight end position in the second round could leave the Packers in quite a predicament.
Using the Rich Hill trade value chart, if the Packers felt that they had to jump to pick 34, for example, they would have to give up picks 116, 149, and 232. If they wanted to move to pick 38, that would require parting with pick 116. This is a Packers team with a number of needs to fill and also could use more inexpensive rookie contracts on the 53-man roster as they will continue to face a tight salary cap situation in 2024. So they need more draft picks, now fewer.
Below is a list of teams who are picking ahead of the Packers at 42nd overall. According to NFL.com, Los Angeles, Detroit, and New Orleans are all teams who have a need for a tight end.
32. Pittsburgh Steelers
33. Arizona Cardinals
34. Detroit Lions
35. Indianapolis Colts
36. Los Angeles Rams
37. Seattle Seahawks
38. Las Vegas Raiders
39. Carolina Panthers
40. New Orleans Saints
41. Tennessee Titans
With the Packers’ tight end room being so empty, with just four players on the roster, two of which have experience, they need a variety of specific skill sets to add to this room. Robert Tonyan was reliable but averaged fewer than 9.0 yards per catch. Many of last year’s playoff teams, meanwhile, had a tight end on their roster making an impact in the passing game.
In addition to adding a pass catcher, Green Bay could also use a traditional in-line Y-tight end, which plays an important role in the Matt LaFleur offense. Josiah Deguara, although used as a blocker, is an H-back, while Tyler Davis is more of a special teams player.
Green Bay could try to address each of these needs individually, or ideally, they find someone who can impact both the run and passing games. In last year’s tight end room, there was some predictability, given the very specific skill sets each tight end had. Adding a well-rounded player to the mix will open up the playbook for LaFleur and can help keep defenses off-balance.
When discussing rookie tight ends, it’s worth noting that most do not contribute in a significant way. The jump from college to the NFL at this position is a challenging one with all of the responsibilities that come with it in having to know route concepts like a receiver and blocking techniques like a lineman.
“There’s so many demands on the tight end,” said Gutekunst. “They have to know their passing trees and all the things we are doing from that standpoint, and also run blocking and pass blocking. It’s a very demanding position. As you guys have seen how Matt uses multiple tight ends it’s very important to our offense, so I think sometimes that can be scheme related, but to us it’s very, very important.”
For this reason, adding a veteran presence at the position would still be valuable, but the free agent market is low on options, and the Packers are low on spending power. Given the state of the Green Bay tight end room and the depth of this year’s tight end class, drafting two tight ends should be a must.
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