The Green Bay Packers will have a fairly different offense in 2023 — because of the players, obviously, but also because of their characteristics. For example, Jordan Love will probably play more within the structure of Matt LaFleur’s offensive scheme. Therefore, tight end Josiah Deguara will become a lynchpin in the offense, especially now that Robert Tonyan signed with the Chicago Bears and Marcedes Lewis is still a free agent.
Watching Love’s tape in the NFL, both in his preseason games and in his sparse appearances in regular-season games, it’s impressive how frequently he targeted Deguara. Deguara’s role will inevitably get bigger after Aaron Rodgers’ departure, even if the Packers draft a tight end early because players at that position tend to take time to develop. But he’ll also likely take a step forward because Rogers underutilized Deguara.
It’s impressive to find so many plays of Love and Deguara together considering how few snaps they have played so far in their careers — especially Love, obviously. A great example is in Week 1 of last season, when the Packers lost to the Minnesota Vikings.
Love played some garbage-time snaps and completed four of five passes for 65 yards. He completed two of those four passes to Deguara, who gained 28 yards. Rodgers had 34 passes in that game, but he never targeted Deguara. Zero targets in 34 passes. Deguara only had more than two targets in a game once in 2022 — five in the Week 9 game against the Detroit Lions.
That’s why I wrote that Deguara should receive more opportunities last year.
“We can be in the same personnel grouping, and we can line him up on the line of scrimmage or in a wing alignment, or we can line him up in the backfield,” said LaFleur in 2020, during Deguara’s rookie season. “I just think that adds stress to a defense in terms of how these guys will line up and what exactly they’re going to do.”
Deguara had the highest PFF grade among Packers tight ends, but he ended up third in offensive snaps. He was fourth by the end of October, behind Tyler Davis. In terms of efficiency, Deguara was clearly the best option. He finished the season first on the team in yards per route run (1.50) and had a perfect true catch rate. He never established a connection with Rodgers, and it’s not clear why. But his proximity to Love during practices after three years as backups might help now that both are going to be starters.
The most obvious example is Deguara’s best play in the NFL. In the Week 18 game against the Detroit Lions in 2021, with Love under center, Deguara caught a screen pass and scored a 62-yard touchdown. The play shows exactly what Deguara was as a prospect and what he is as a player. He’s not a classic in-line or Y tight end. However, he excels as an h-back and a moveable piece of the offense.
As I mentioned earlier, Deguara had a much more significant role in the offense when Love was on the field. In a 2021 preseason game against the Buffalo Bills, the Packers again used Deguara moving. It was before the snap this time, allowing Love to make an easy completion to gain confidence.
However, no other play shows how Deguara fits into LaFleur’s offense as one he made against the New Orleans Saints in the 2022 preseason. It’s a simple play; nothing really special happened. However, the concept is a staple of the system: play-action boot off split zone. Love makes a good throw, and Deguara does what he does best: On the move, he gets yards after the catch.
Even though Deguara is not an in-line tight end, he’s still a decent blocker — but in a different role. There are two examples of plays in which Love runs and Deguara has an important role blocking down the field. Both were run against the San Francisco 49ers, in last year’s preseason:
In the same game, the Packers used Deguara again to facilitate Love’s process as a checkdown option. The tight end blocks in-line, but then rolls and becomes the last read for an easy gain.
Still against the 49ers, another easy completion for Deguara on the move — and at this point you are probably already convinced by my point. Deguara aligns as an h-back and runs to the flat. Love does a quick play action and finds his tight end close to the line of scrimmage. Deguara gains extra yardage and confirms a first down on fourth-and-one.
Besides Josiah Deguara, the Packers tight end room has Tyler Davis, Austin Allen, and Nick Guggemos. It’s clear that Deguara is their best option, and it’s good to have a quarterback willing to use him.
