When the time comes for the Green Bay Packers to complete their 53-man roster, will they keep four or five tight ends?
Of course, the ultimate goal in constructing the 53-man squad is to make sure the best players are on the team. Part of the equation, however, is how many players they put in each position group.
With only a confined number of roster spots available, teams need to be aware of what players are available at each position. For example, running six edge rushers just isn’t realistic.
One of these potentially tough, numbers-based decisions can be made at the tight end position. We know Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft will be on the team. Ben Sims is probably a safe and sound bet as well. However, when it comes to the fourth starting spot, will it go to Tyler Davis, Henry Pearson, or maybe both?
Tyler Davis is still recovering from last year’s anterior cruciate ligament injury, but will be able to contribute to the team upon his eventual return. Davis’ biggest impact will be on special teams, where he led the team in snaps in 2022, playing regularly in five different phases.
In fact, special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia said last summer that losing Davis for the entire season was like losing his right arm. When it comes to building the back end of the lineup, special teams contributions are paramount.
On offense, Davis could provide additional competition to Sims as the primary blocking middle quarterback, and perhaps we’ll see the Packers give him a chance to play H-back, a role currently being offered to Josiah Deguara in Jacksonville.
“I feel like we kind of lost our right arm, you know?” Bisaccia said after Davis was injured. “He was an exceptional special teams player, someone you could count on in any critical situation and could play multiple positions. He’s a big guy who can really run, and he was a double-digit offensive tackler a year ago.”
Pearson, who is listed as a full-back, may be a more natural fit for the H-back role as he played in that position multiple times in training with Deguara last season. We’ve seen little of Pearson in practice, but he has the versatility to move around in a variety of formations, and with his college experience as a quarterback, he looks a natural as a blocker and pass catcher.
Still, Pearson showing he can contribute effectively on special teams will still be his best path to making the team. By the end of the season, Deguara was making just 10-15 plays per game in the H-back role.
Pearson was reassigned from the practice squad twice last season and played 22 times on special teams, mostly on the kick return and kick coverage units. With Davis still rehabbing and Tucker Kraft sidelined with a pec injury, Pearson had the opportunity to become the Packers’ third tight end in the offseason.
“He always works his ass off,” Matt LaFleur said. Honestly, I think there’s a great opportunity here for everyone. And that’s one of the things we talked about with the team. It doesn’t matter, first-rounder, UDFA, if you’re the guy at the tryout, you’re here for a reason. You have an opportunity and it’s up to them to come out and show what they can do, and you have two days to make a good impression.”
For what it’s worth considering our recent and early 53-player roster projections here at Packers Wire, while we would have preferred to keep five tight ends, for the sake of roster calculations, we only kept four and selected Davis over Pearson. Ultimately, it was Davis’ experience on special teams and how highly respected he is both on and off the field that led to this decision.
During LaFleur’s tenure, the Packers missed five close games with a starting lineup of 53 players. They retained four quarterbacks and one fullback in 2019, while last year without Davis they retained just three.
“Tyler is a true star,” tight ends coach John Dunn said. “He’s the most dedicated guy you could ever imagine. There’s not enough good things I can say about Tyler, just being one of the veterans in this room, just being a leader.”
