Green Bay Packers: Will this be Robert Tonyan’s breakout season?

Up to this point in Green Bay Packers Training Camp, Robert Tonyan has been quite impressive. So it begs the question, will this be his breakout season?

Rewind just one year ago and Robert Tonyan was the new guy on this Green Bay Packers team, learning a brand new position in hopes of making the 53-man roster.

Now as we sit on the brink of the 2019 NFL season, with one week of Packers’ Training Camp under our belts I have to ask: are we instore for a Robert Tonyan breakout season?

Albeit limited, we did see flashes last season of the playmaking ability that Tonyan can bring to this Green Bay Packers’ offense. During the preseason he would haul in all eight passes thrown his way, for 61 yards and two touchdowns.

Then fast forward to a regular-season matchup with the Seattle Seahawks where a scrambling Aaron Rodgers would find Tonyan in the end zone for a 54-yard highlight-reel touchdown catch.

While there were these promising moments from Tonyan, he would only see 67 total offensive snaps last season. Whether this was due to former head coach Mike McCarthy not feeling that he was ready, a mismanagement of his playing time, or a combination of the two – who knows? But regardless, Tonyan knew there was work to be done in the offseason.

As a former college receiver, Tonyan is a very good pass catcher hauling in 20 touchdown receptions and 2,047 yards at Indiana State. However, his route running needed refinement and he needed work on his blocking – which is an important part of the tight end’s responsibilities in Matt LaFleur’s offense.

So what did Tonyan do? Well, he worked out with San Francisco 49ers’ star tight end George Kittle over the offseason. In addition to working out, Kittle shared his knowledge of the tight end position with Tonyan and connected him with Niners quarterback C.J. Beathard.

49ers’ head coach Kyle Shanahan and LaFleur have a very similar offensive philosophy. By Tonyan working with Kittle and Beathard, he was able to get a jump-start on LaFleur’s offensive system as well as the lingo that is apart of it.

At 6’5″ – 237 pounds with 4.58 speed, Tonyan has the physical tools to be a dynamic weapon for Rodgers but he needed to become more refined with the intricacies of the tight end position to help him become a more well-rounded player. And so far through Training Camp, it looks like that offseason work is paying off and LaFleur has taken notice:

"“I’m excited about him,” LaFleur said after Wednesday’s practice. “I think he gets better each and every day — not only in the pass game, but in the run game. He’s a valuable piece. Again, another young player. It’ll be fun to watch him in those preseason situations.”"

It’s pretty clear at this point that Jimmy Graham will be the Green Bay Packers’ first tight end – and deservedly so – but Tonyan has been taking plenty of snaps with the first-team offense where he is making some noise and could jump Marcedes Lewis for that second spot on the depth chart.

In addition to LaFleur, Rodgers has taken notice as well and had this to say about Tonyan’s performance in Training Camp so far:

"“He’s just so versatile. He’s doing a better job at the point of attack blocking. We’re not asking the off-the-ball TE to do a ton of point-of-attack stuff, it’s a lot of movement stuff, and he’s great at that. Very natural receiver.”"

LaFleur wants his tight ends to able to block just as well as they can catch passes and although it’s been a small sample size, we’ve seen Tonyan’s potential effectiveness in the passing game but now he is being noticed as a run blocker as well.

By showing this kind of versatility it is only going to lead to more playing time for Tonyan, which means more opportunities to be a difference-maker. So buckle up Green Bay Packers fans, this could be the Bobby Tonyan breakout season.