Grading Packers on Salary Cap Curve: Tonyan and Tight Ends

In the fourth of a series of season-ending report cards, we look at the Green Bay Packers’ tight ends through the lenses of performance and the salary cap.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Jan 19, 2023 10:20 PM EST

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers’ tight end corps had something for everyone and every occasion this season.

Need someone to make a key catch? Throw it to Robert Tonyan. Need someone to deliver a key block? Run behind Marcedes Lewis. Need someone to provide the lead block? Stick Josiah Deguara at fullback.

There isn’t an all-around stud like San Francisco’s George Kittle. Or a dominant receiver like Travis Kelce. Or a field-stretcher like Darren Waller. But, as a group, Green Bay’s tight ends got the job done.

"The best part of about playing this position is you get to do everything," position coach John Dunn said. "The hardest part about this position is you have to do everything.

"Sometimes, it’s not so much learning but it is the techniques that go along with that. That’s something that we juggle daily in terms of what does each guy need based on the techniques that he’s being asked to do to make sure they’re honing their skill-set in their role."

Here is Part 4 of our annual series of player grades as viewed through the lens of the salary cap. All cap figures are from OverTheCap.com. Analytical stats are from Pro Football Focus and Sports Info Solutions.

Marcedes Lewis ($4.53 million; 16th among tight ends)

For the second consecutive year, Marcedes Lewis started all 17 games. However, the 38-year-old was a far more one-dimensional player in 2022. This past season, he caught 6-of-7 passes for 66 yards, with touchdowns vs. the Giants and Dolphins. In 2021, he caught 23-of-28 passes for 214 yards.

It wasn’t just the raw numbers. In 2021, he forced nine missed tackles – as many as three-time Pro Bowler Mark Andrews, who caught 107 passes, and more than Zach Ertz (74 catches), Mike Gesicki (73) and six others who caught at least 60 passes – and averaged 6.5 yards after the catch. In 2022, he forced zero missed tackles and averaged 2.5 YAC.

Of course, “Big Dog” is on the team to block and lead. And he did those things to his usual standard. There weren’t many explosive runs that didn’t have Lewis making the key block at the point of attack. Green Bay’s elite perimeter run game might be a shell of itself without Lewis beating up on defensive ends.

Take PFF’s grades for what they’re worth but, out of 45 tight ends with at least 200 snaps in the run game, Lewis’ run-blocking grade ranked fifth.

Lewis will be a free agent. Next season will be his 18th, which would be most ever by a tight end. It’s a record he wants and it’s a record he will have earned.

“A guy like Marcedes Lewis, he’s an important cog in the wheel of the locker room and the momentum of the team,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said on The Pat McAfee Show this week. “That’s a guy I want to finish my career with. If I’m playing, I want that guy next to me.”

Grade: B-minus.

Robert Tonyan ($3.25 million; 25th among tight ends)

Robert Tonyan missed the second half of last season with a torn ACL but played in all 17 games in 2022. Tonyan led the team in receiving for a big chunk of the season before finishing third with 53 receptions. He had 470 yards, an 8.9-yard average and two touchdowns.

Tonyan had a breakout season in 2020 season, when he caught 52 passes for 586 yards and 11 touchdowns. Of the 34 tight ends who were targeted at least 40 times, Tonyan was No. 1 in catch percentage (89.7), drop percentage (0.0) and passer rating (148.3), according to PFF, and was tied for No. 1 in touchdowns.

Coming off the injury, two of the numbers were quite similar. Of 32 tight ends with at least 40 targets in 2022, Tonyan was No. 1 in catch percentage (84.1) and drop percentage (one; 1.9 percent). His hands are nothing short of impeccable. However, with two touchdowns and two interceptions, the resulting passer rating was only 95.1. He broke three tackles after having just one in 84 receptions the previous four seasons.

Presumably, he’ll be more of a threat in 2023 as the ACL becomes more of a distant memory. In 2020, he caught 9-of-11 passes with three touchdowns on passes 10 to 19 yards downfield and 6-of-9 passes with four touchdowns on passes 20-plus yards downfield. That’s a combined 15-of-20. This past season, he caught 5-of-9 passes with zero touchdowns on throws 10 to 19 yards downfield and 2-of-5 passes with two touchdowns on throws 20-plus yards downfield. That’s a combined 7-of-14.

Tonyan will be a free agent. Given the team’s trade-deadline interest in the Raiders’ Darren Waller, it appears the team is looking to upgrade.

Grade: C-plus.

Josiah Deguara ($1.22 million; 44th among tight ends)

A third-round pick in 2020, Deguara has developed into a solid role player. He caught 13-of-15 passes for 114 yards and zero touchdowns. After catching five passes for 41 yards in the midseason loss at Detroit, he caught two passes for 8 yards in the final eight games. He didn’t drop any passes but he didn’t break any tackles or make much happen after the catch, either.

If the Packers wanted to run the ball, they put Marcedes Lewis at tight end, Allen Lazard at receiver and Deguara at fullback. There weren’t many explosive runs that didn’t have Deguara lined up at fullback or on the wing and making a key block.

When the Packers drafted Deguara, they saw a player in the mold of Kyle Juszczyk, who has been picked for seven Pro Bowls in 10 seasons with the Ravens and 49ers. It’d be interesting to see Deguara’s impact if given some more opportunities.

Grade: C.

Tyler Davis ($895,000; 77th among tight ends)

Playing all 17 games, Davis caught 4-of-7 passes for 26 yards. Most of those yards came on a 23-yarder at Tampa Bay. Davis ran the wrong route at Philadelphia, leading to an interception. He didn’t get another pass thrown his way the final five games as his reps mostly were limited to blocking.

Davis was fourth on the team with 10 tackles on special teams. Six of those came during the final four games, when Green Bay’s special teams really hit its stride.

Davis will be a restricted free agent this offseason. He probably got too much hype this offseason, when he got a lot of reps with Robert Tonyan returning from his torn ACL, but he is worthy of another shot.

Grade: D.

100 Days of Mocks

Starting Jan. 17, when there were 100 days until the start of the NFL Draft, we started our mock-worthy goal of 100 mock drafts in 100 days. Here’s the series.

100 days: First-round quarterback?

99 days: Trading for outside linebacker

98 days: Stud tight end