Packers 2023 UDFA Profile: Florida State TE Camren McDonald

Moving along in my review of the Green Bay Packers 2023 undrafted rookie class, I will now be taking a closer look at Florida State tight end Camren McDonald.

In this series, I have been taking a look at the current state of each UDFA’s respective position group, while examining their college stats you need to know. I’ll also be taking a look at their height, weight, and athletic testing measurements, along with one pre-draft scouting report for an added perspective.

If you’ve missed any of the other articles in this series, you can find them below.

Brenton Cox

Benny Sapp

Jimmy Phillips

Kadeem Telfort

Jason Lewan

Chuck Filiaga

Duece Watts 

Henry Pearson

Current state of the Packers tight end position

There is a lot of youth and inexperience at the tight end position for the Green Bay Packers, with Josiah Deguara and his 600-plus offensive snaps making him the most experienced tight end on the roster, and technically, he is more of an H-back. However, despite that aspect, this is a position group that seems pretty well when it comes to the 53-man roster. Most likely, the Packers will keep four tight ends come Week 1, and those players will be Deguara, Tucker Kraft, Luke Musgrave, and Tyler Davis.

Perhaps in years past with a more experienced tight end room, we could see the Packers choose the upside of a player like Camren McDonald over Davis, but this year, I think his experience within the offense will carry more weight, given the outlook of the position group. Most rookie tight ends do struggle because of all the responsibilities they have to balance between being pass-catchers, blockers, and moving around the formation. So even though Kraft and Musgrave both possess a ton of upside, be prepared for an up and down season from each. For McDonald, in all likelihood, his ceiling in Year 1 is as a practice squad player where he will have the opportunity to continue refining his game.

Stats to know

On paper, there are a few reasons why McDonald looks like a really good fit at tight end for this Packers team. For starters, he played 33% of his career snaps from the slot, according to PFF, showcasing his ability to be moved around the formation. He also has blocking experience, with 784 career run-blocking snaps, and also important, he played 470 special teams snaps as well, on a variety of units. As a pass-catcher, McDonald caught 74 of his 114 career targets, averaging 11.7 yards per catch with five touchdowns. In 2022, specifically, he displayed some playmaking abilities, averaging 15.0 yards per catching, including averaging 7.0 after the catch, which ranked 28th among all tight ends last season.

Measurements

6’4” | 237 | RAS: 2.52

McDonald has good height for a tight end but at 237 pounds, he is on the lighter side, which could test him as an inline blocker at the NFL level. He recorded a 40-time of 4.99 seconds and did not do any of the agility drills. His overall score on the vertical and broad jumps was “okay” on the RAS scale, and was bolstered by his 9’09” broad jump. Overall, 5.0 on the RAS scale is considered average. While the Packers have traditionally favored prospects with a RAS of 8.0 or higher under Brian Gutekunst, they haven’t been as strict with that threshold at the tight end position. Both Deguara and Jace Sternberger as draft picks were under the 8.0 mark, although both were over 5.0.

Pre-draft scouting report

"“Strengths: Hard-working tight end with average size and speed. Sets with a wide base, bends his knees, and stays square as a blocker to seal defenders from the action. Works his way back to the ball to make himself an available target or finds the open spot in the defense. Extends his hands to offer the quarterback a target and nicely makes the reception away from his frame.“Weaknesses: Not a natural pass catcher and doesn’t show soft hands. Doesn’t finish blocks.“Overall: McDonald is a hard-working college TE, but he comes with average athletic numbers and limited upside.” – Tony Pauline, Pro Football Network"