Green Bay Packers: More Opportunities for Jace Sternberger Ahead?

With John Lovett headed to IR, that means we could see more Jace Sternberger for the Green Bay Packers moving forward.

During the offseason, Jace Sternberger was the pick of many Green Bay Packers fans to be the team’s breakout star in 2020. But instead of taking the world by storm, he’s been on the field for only 27 percent of Green Bay’s total offensive snaps and is behind Robert Tonyan and Marcedes Lewis in snap counts at the tight end position.

Early in the season, we saw some brutal drops from Sternerbger as well, but since then, he has become a more reliable and dynamic target. He hasn’t dropped a pass since Week 2 against Detroit, and overall, Sternberger has caught eight of 11 passes for 86 yards, with two plays over 20 yards, and a touchdown. Not to mention that Aaron Rodgers’ passer rating when targeting him is an impressive 125.6.

I wrote earlier this season that no one should be panicking when it comes to Sternberger’s lack of production. For one, the transition from college to the NFL at the tight end position is one of the more difficult ones out there, and keep in mind that he has just 245 career snaps. That’s not a lot.

However, looking ahead to this final half of the season, Sternberger’s role may increase with the unfortunate news that John Lovett is out for the year. After playing a season-high 11 snaps in San Francisco and carrying the ball three times, we learned on Friday that Lovett has a torn ACL, thus putting his season to an end.

Acquired over the summer from Kansas City, Lovett took over as the Green Bay Packers’ primary H-back after Josiah Deguara suffered a season-ending injury of his own. Lovett didn’t see the field a ton, just 45 offensive snaps through eight games, but he played an important role in the Matt LaFleur offense, which is always striving to create that “illusion of complexity.”

Although primarily used out of the backfield, Lovett also lined up inline, in the slot, and even out wide for a few snaps. This positional flexibility allows LaFleur to line him up just about anywhere in the formation and run similar plays but from a wide variety of looks–which is essentially how LaFleur defines the illusion of complexity. With Lovett’s ability to both run the ball and be a pass catcher, defenses have to account for him to some degree.

So given Sternberger’s versatility and skill-set, this is a role that we could see him fill over Green Bay’s last eight games–especially lining up in the backfield. In fact, he filled this role a bit in 2019, taking 20 of his 99 offensive snaps from the backfield, including 12 in the NFC Divisional Playoffs against Seattle.

Called a “matchup problem” by GM Brian Gutekunst, this really is an ideal role for Sternberger. He’s more athletic and dynamic as a pass-catcher than what Lovett is and having him and Tonyan on the field together more often certainly isn’t a bad thing either. With his speed, versatility, and pass-catching ability, Sternberger is a player that will stress defenses and create mismatches for both himself and his teammates.

Now having said all of that, don’t expect to see Sternberger in the backfield for 25 snaps a game. Perhaps it’s more in the five to ten snap range and possibly less. But those snaps coupled with his regular tight end responsibilities means more playing time for Sternberger and when he is in the backfield, he brings a more dynamic element to this offense.

So let’s get excited and hope we see a long touchdown pass from Rodgers to Sternberger on a beautifully designed wheel route.