1 Big Question Facing Each Green Bay Packers Position Group at the Bye
By Paul Bretl
Green Bay Packers TEs: What kind of impact can this unit make in the passing game?
With Josiah Deguara, Dominique Dafney, and Marcedes Lewis, the Green Bay Packers tight end unit is well-equipped to handle their blocking responsibilities–that shouldn’t be an issue. But how well can they affect the passing game without Robert Tonyan?
Although it was a slow start to the year for Tonyan, he was picking up steam before his injury with seven receptions for 112 yards and a touchdown over his final 1.5 games of action. Not to mention that there is also the attention that he draws, which can help create for his teammates, and his red-zone presence.
We’ve began to see Rodgers’ trust in Deguara slowly begin to grow with eight receptions on 11 targets for 75 yards and a touchdown over the last four games without Tonyan. But Deguara still has just 15 career targets to his name.
Lewis will have his moments in the passing game, but he is never truly going to be a big factor. Dafney is more of an enforcer with his blocking abilities and has just four career targets.
It’s going to take a group effort, and I imagine that includes help from receivers like Allen Lazard and Equanimeous St. Brown, who can run similar routes as Tonyan from the slot. While we shouldn’t expect any of the tight ends to fully replace Tonyan’s passing game production, if opposing defenses can at least respect what they can do as pass-catchers, it will do wonders for this offense as a whole.