These Tight Ends Might Not Be on Packers’ Draft Board

The Green Bay Packers have a big need at tight end and a strong draft class awaits. Looking at their draft history, here’s who fits and who might not fit in the 2023 NFL Draft.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Tight end, like automobile, is sort of a catch-all term.

Just as there are cars, trucks and SUVs, there are old-school tight ends, overgrown receivers and quasi-fullbacks.

When it comes to the measurables such as height and speed, the Green Bay Packers have a “type” at most positions. Good luck figuring out their “type” at tight end. During the 18 drafts conducted by the late Thompson (2005 through 2017) and Brian Gutekunst (starting in 2018), the Packers have drafted nine tight ends.

What does history suggest? Just about all the draft-worthy tight ends should be on the Packers’ draft board. It’s not because they’re all so athletic, though most of them are well above average in that regard. It’s that the Packers’ height-athleticism standards aren’t high.

Height

The historic Scouting Combine average for a tight end is 6-foot-4 1/2. The Packers have taken only one tight end taller than that: Clark Harris in the seventh round in 2007. Harris has had a heck of a career – as a long snapper. Meanwhile, they’ve drafted two “short” tight ends: D.J. Williams (6-foot-2 1/8) in the fifth round in 2011 and Josiah Deguara (6-2 3/8) in the third round in 2020.

40-Yard Dash

The Combine average in the 40-yard dash in 4.77 seconds. Jermichael Finley (4.82) in the third round in 2008 and Richard Rodgers (4.87) in the third round in 2014 were slower, and Jace Sternberger (4.75 in the third round in 2019) and Ryan Taylor (4.76 in 2011) were right about average. Williams’ 4.59 was the fastest.

The slowest of the draft-worthy tight ends are Clemson’s sure-handed Davis Allen (4.84) and Purdue’s Payne Durham (4.87).

20-Yard Shuttle

The Combine average is 4.38 seconds. Only Sternberger (4.31) and Deguara (4.35) were faster. Rodgers (4.47), Williams (4.51) and Andrew Quarless (4.57) were considerably slower.

Durham (4.51) had the slowest shuttle of the draft-worthy tight ends.

Bonus points to Georgia’s Darnell Washington, whose 20-yard shuttle of 4.08 seconds was about one-third second faster than Notre Dame’s Michael Mayer and Oregon State’s Luke Musgrave.

Hand Size

Big hands seem to be a big deal, with seven of the first eight tight ends being at least 9 3/4 inches. Then the Packers picked Deguara, who has 9-inch hands.

Michigan’s Luke Schoonmaker (9 inches) and Wake Forest’s Blake Whitehardt (8 3/4) are the tight ends with the smallest hands.

Bonus points to Washington, with his position-best 11-inch hands. Oregon State’s Musgrave (10 3/8), Utah’s Kincaid, Iowa’s Sam LaPorta, Old Dominion’s Zack Kuntz and Central Michigan’s Joel Wilson (all 10 1/8) have hands larger than 10 inches. South Dakota State’s Tucker Kraft and Clemson’s Allen are at 10 inches.

Relative Athletic Score

Finally, there’s RAS. There’s this belief among fans that Gutekunst is big on picking players with high RAS. And he is at most positions. There’s just no correlation whatsoever at tight end.

Listed in chronological order, here are Green Bay’s drafted tight ends, with the first two by Gutekunst and the other seven by Thompson: Deguara, 6.69; Sternberger 5.20; Kennard Backman, 5.97; Rodgers, 4.57; Williams, 5.69; Taylor, 6.80; Quarless, 6.29; Finley, 6.42; Harris, 7.82.

Yes, the tight end with the highest RAS never played in a game for the Packers and made his mark as a long snapper.

(In case you were wondering, Tonyan had a RAS of 8.84. Tyler Davis, the other tight on the Green Bay roster who’s played in a game and caught a pass, had a 7.88 RAS as a sixth-round pick by the Jaguars in 2020.)

Here are the Relative Athletic Scores of our top tight ends: Notre Dame’s Mayer, 7.62; Kincaid, no testing due to back; Georgia’s Washington, 9.88; Oregon State’s Musgrave, 9.77; South Dakota State’s Kraft, 9.67; Iowa’s LaPorta, 9.01; Michigan’s Schoonmaker, 9.86; Old Dominion’s Kuntz, 10.00; Penn State’s Brenton Strange, 9.06; Cincinnati’s Josh Whyle, 8.97; Miami’s Will Mallory, 9.04; Clemson’s Allen, 8.56; Purdue’s Durham, 6.52

So, what does it mean?

The thinking here is every draft-worthy tight end will be on the Green Bay board.

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