When the time comes for the Green Bay Packers to put together their 53-man roster, will they keep four tight ends or five?
Of course, the ultimate goal when constructing the 53-man roster is to make sure that the best football players on the team. However, a part of the equation is how many players they roster at each position group.
With only so many roster spots available, teams have to be mindful of how players are at each position. Keeping six edge rushers, for example, just isn’t realistic.
One of those potentially difficult number driven decisions could take place at the tight end position. What we know is that Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft will be on the team. Ben Sims is likely a safe bet as well. However, when it comes to that fourth roster spot, will it go to Tyler Davis, Henry Pearson, or perhaps both?
Tyler Davis is still rehabbing from last year’s ACL injury, but upon his eventual return, he will have the ability to contribute to the team. Davis’ biggest impact will come on special teams, where he led the team in snaps in 2022, playing across five different phases regularly.
In fact, special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia said last summer that losing Davis for the season was like losing his right hand. When it comes to building out the back end of any roster, special teams contributions matter immensely.
On offense, Davis could provide added competition for Sims as the primary blocking tight end or maybe we see the Packers give him the opportunity to take snaps as the H-back, a role that is now available with Josiah Deguara in Jacksonville.
“I feel like to some degree we lost our right hand, you know?” Bisaccia said following Davis’ injury. “He was an exceptional special-teams player, someone that you could count on in every critical situation, count on to play multiple positions. He’s a big-bodied guy who can really run, was a double-digit tackler a year ago.”
Pearson, who is listed as a fullback, may be a more natural fit for the H-back role, having taken reps at that position during practices with Deguara last season. It’s been a small sample size that we’ve seen of Pearson in practice, but he has the versatility to be moved around the formation, and with his experience as a tight end in college, he looks natural as a blocker and pass-catcher.
With that said, Pearson showcasing that he can contribute effectively on special teams will still be his best path to making the team. By the end of the season, Deguara was seeing just 10-15 snaps per game in that H-back role.
Pearson was elevated from the practice squad twice last season and played 22 special teams primarily on the kick return and kick coverage units. With Davis still rehabbing and Tucker Kraft sidelined with a pec injury, Pearson had the opportunity to be the Packers’ third tight end during offseason programs.
“He always busts his butt,” said Matt LaFleur. I think there’s a great opportunity for everybody here, quite frankly. And that’s one of the things that we talked to the team about. It doesn’t matter, first-rounder, UDFA, if you’re a tryout guy, you;re here for a reason. You got an opportunity and it’s really on them to go out there and showcase what they can do and you got two days to leave a pretty good impression.”
For what it’s worth, on our recent and early, 53-man roster prediction here at Packers Wire, while we would have liked to keep five tight ends, because of the roster math, we kept only four and picked Davis over Pearson. Ultimately, it was Davis’ special teams experience and how highly he is regarded both on and off the field that led to that decision.
During LaFleur’s tenure, the Packers haven’t rostered five tight ends on the initial 53-man. In 2019, they kept four tight ends and one fullback, while last year they kept only three with Davis out.
“Tyler’s a stud,” said tight end coach John Dunn. “He is as dedicated of an individual as they come. There’s not enough good words I can say about Tyler, just him really being one of the veterans in the room, just the guidance.”