General managers pick players in the draft, but it’s not difficult to find the fingerprints of coach Matt LaFleur covering the Green Bay Packers’ selection of tight end Josiah Deguara.
Does Brian Gutekunst take Deguara with the 94th pick in the draft without LaFleur as his coach? Doubtful.
Consider this: Not only does Deguara have the positional versatility and skill set of a player who should fit seamlessly into LaFleur’s offense, but he comes highly recommended by Cincinnati offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock, a good friend of LaFleur’s who once worked side-by-side with the Packers coach at Notre Dame.
“I don’t think there are many jobs Josiah can’t do,” Denbrock told Justin Williams of The Athletic. “On a roster of 53 people, you have to have more than one guy who can do multiple things. I think his versatility is his strong suit, and on top of that, he’s an incredibly intelligent kid. You put all those things together, and I have a hard time believing he won’t be really, really successful.”
Deguara played numerous positions for Cincinnati, including inline tight end, out in the slot and at H-back. LaFleur, who is building his offense around pre-snap deception and the ability to challenge defensive personnel, sees Deguara as a capable blocker and receiver from several positions, which – in theory – could give the Packers an ability to run the ball and throw it using identical personnel.
During a post-draft conference call, Gutekunst said Deguara was a player that LaFleur was “very, very excited about.”
| Deguara | Juszczyk | |
| Height | 6-2 | 6-1 |
| Weight | 242 | 240 |
| College catches | 92 | 125 |
| 40-yard dash | 4.72 | 4.71 |
| Vertical leap | 35.5″ | 37.0″ |
| Broad jump | 115.0″ | 121.0″ |
| Three cone | 7.15 | N/A |
| Short shuttle | 4.35 | 4.19 |
| Bench press | 25 | N/A |
“I love Josiah,” LaFleur said. “He is extremely versatile. The thing he brings to our offense is, we can be in the same personnel grouping and we can line him up on the line of scrimmage or in a wing alignment or in the backfield. I think that adds stress on the defense. When you watch Josiah, you see such a gritty, tough player.”
An assist from Denbrock likely led LaFleur to Deguara, who finished his college career with 92 catches, the most ever by a Cincinnati tight end. Now the offensive coordinator at Cincinnati, Denbrock was promoted to offensive coordinator at Notre Dame on the same day the Irish hired LaFleur to be the new quarterbacks coach in early 2014. The two men worked together for a full season in South Bend before LaFleur re-entered the NFL as the quarterbacks coach under Kyle Shanahan in Atlanta.
Now, Deguara is looking more and more like LaFleur’s answer to Kyle Juszczyk, Shanahan’s do-it-all H-back in San Francisco. In fact, LaFleur said the Packers will try to “emulate” some of the things the 49ers do with Juszczyk once Deguara is integrated into the offense.
It all ties together. The fit. The college coach. The player comparison.
This was a pick with LaFleur’s name written all over it.
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