What to Know: Packers hosting top tight end Michael Mayer
By Paul Bretl
The Green Bay Packers hosted Notre Dame tight end Michael Mayer, according to Jordan Reid of ESPN. Each team is permitted to have 30 official pre-draft visits.
Mayer is widely considered either the first or second-best tight end in what is a very deep draft class depending on where you look, and most would consider him the most well-rounded prospect at the position, with his ability to impact the game both as a blocker and pass-catcher.
Mayer measured in at 6’4″ and weighed 248 pounds. He recorded a Relative Athletic Score (RAS) of 8.08, which included a 4.7-second 40-yard dash time. Of Brian Gutekunst’s 42 RAS eligible draft picks, 30 have scored above 8.0, although both of his tight end selections have been below that mark.
Over his career, Mayer caught 71% of his 227 targets at 11.9 yards per catch with 16 touchdowns. He lined up all over the formation, spending 48% of his total snaps in the slot, along with another 12% being out wide. This versatility is an important aspect of playing tight end in the Matt LaFleur offense.
In 2022 specifically, Mayer caught 67 of his 101 targets at 12.1 yards per catch and had nine touchdowns. He ranked fifth in total yards after the catch, 16th in average YAC, and second in yards per route run among all tight ends. He was also PFF’s fourth-highest-graded run-blocking tight end as well.
For more on Mayer’s game and what he could potentially offer the Green Bay Packers, here is what Lance Zierlein of NFL.com had to say:
"“Big combination tight end with the demeanor for run blocking and the size for tough, chain-moving catches underneath. Mayer will come into the league with better blocking technique than most tight ends in this year’s draft. He’s built for in-line duty and was an extension of the Notre Dame offensive line at times. His feet are a little heavy getting into and through his routes, but he has the hand strength and contact balance to win heavily contested catches on the first two levels. Mayer might need to polish his route running to become a high-volume target, but he’s a safe pick and will be a good pro who can become a plus player as a run blocker and pass catcher.”"
It’s no secret that the Packers have to address the tight end in this draft with only four on the roster currently, just one of which has any significant NFL experience on offense. But what Mayer’s presence can do specifically is give this offense some unpredictability, a missing element from 2022.
With how the Packers’ tight end room was constructed in 2022, Robert Tonyan was the only real pass-catching threat, while Marcedes Lewis and Josiah Deguara were primarily blockers. Now that isn’t to say these three weren’t used in other capacities, but defenses had a good idea of what each player’s responsibility was going to be.
Adding Mayer to the mix, who is capable both in the passing and running games, will better keep defenses off-balance and guessing. It simply won’t be as easy to decipher what his role is from play to play or, in general, what’s coming from the offense. Therefore helping LaFleur to achieve that illusion of complexity we often hear him talk about.
If the Packers are going to draft Mayer, they’re going to have to do so at pick 15. As I wrote about recently, while tight end is a major need, it’s also not a position that the Packers have historically spent a first-round pick on–although the same thing could have been said about linebacker last year. On top of that, with this being such a deep class at the position and most rookie tight ends taking two or even three years to hit their stride, from a value standpoint, addressing the need in round two may make more sense.
With that said, if Green Bay is going to go off-script, doing so for Mayer makes the most sense. He is a very good fit for the Packers and would provide them with a solution to a specific need and missing aspect to this offense that has to be filled.
Regardless of how the Packers approach their tight end need in this draft, I fully expect them to spend at least two of their 10 draft picks on the position, given the lack of depth they have and how much talent is in this class.