Packers’ Matt LaFleur alludes to Green Bay having open competition at TE

The Green Bay Packers elected to move on from now Chicago Bears tight end Jimmy Graham earlier in the offseason–clearing the way for a tight end on the roster to step up and earn this spot.

The Packers entered training camp with outsiders holding the expectation that Jace Sternberger is the starter at the tight end position in 2020. However, Robert Tonyan will have a chance to compete for the spot, too.

Packers head coach Matt LaFleur stated that Robert Tonyan ‘absolutely’ has a chance to start at the tight end position.

“Absolutely. We feel really good about Bobby,” LaFleur said, via Zach Kruse of Packers Wire. “I will tell you, he worked really hard this offseason. You can tell, his body, he’s in great shape. He’s got a much better understanding of what we’re trying to do on the offensive side of the football.”

It’s early in training camp, but one of the players whose stock appears to be rising the most for the Packers has been Tonyan. He’s going to need to keep that up when considering he remains the ‘dark-horse’ candidate for the role.

Let’s not forget, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst stated earlier in the offseason that Green Bay will be ‘depending on’ Sternberger to play a greater role in the team’s offense in 2020.

“We’re depending on Jace to be a big part of what we’re going to do this season,” Gutekunst said, via Zach Kruse of Packers Wire. “From the time we drafted him, we looked at Jace as a matchup problem. He’s a very gifted athlete. He’s a young player, coming out, he had one year at Texas A&M. There was a lot of growth there. We really liked the positive signs we saw through the season last year. It was unfortunate not to have an offseason to springboard him into this season, but we’re excited to get him back into the fold and see what he can do.”

Regardless of who wins the Packers’ starting tight end job for Week 1, Green Bay will need a legitimate impact from this position in the passing game. The team relies heavily on Davante Adams but lack much else at the wide receiver position.

The rest of training camp will be used to sort out many position battles for the Green Bay Packers. The tight end position has quickly emerged as being one that may top the list.


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