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Josiah Deguara #83 of the Cincinnati Bearcats catches a go for a landing defended by Deontay Anderson #2 of the Houston Cougars within the second quarter at TDECU Stadium on October 12, 2019 in Houston, Texas.
Matt LaFleur doesn’t see a typical tight finish when he appears to be like at Josiah Deguara, nor does he plan on utilizing him as one within the Inexperienced Bay Packers offense subsequent yr.
Deguara, the Packers’ third-round draft decide, was the lone pass-catcher added to the crew’s offseason roster by means of the 2020 NFL draft after they averted taking a single huge receiver with any of their 9 picks.
The 6-foot-2, 242-pound product out of Cincinnati provides the Packers with one other tight finish who possesses nice arms and sufficient pace to assault the seams, making for a really perfect pairing with final yr’s third-rounder Jace Sternberger. He caught 92 passes for 1,117 yards and 12 touchdowns throughout his 4 seasons with the Bearcats, the majority of which got here in 2018 and ’19.
For LaFleur, although, the strategy to creating the perfect use of him within the Packers’ offense is a bit more advanced than a plug-and-play tight finish.
“I like Josiah,” LaFleur stated throughout Saturday’s post-draft teleconference. “He's extraordinarily versatile. The factor that he brings to our offense is we will be in the identical personnel grouping and we will line him up on the road of scrimmage or in a wing alignment, or we will line him up within the backfield. I simply assume that provides stress to a protection by way of how are these guys going to line up and what's it precisely they’re going to do.”
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Might Deguara be Spark Plug in 2020 Offense?
The function LaFleur is describing for Deguara resembles one thing just like what he had been hoping to get out of former fullback Danny Vitale final season. Whereas Vitale didn’t pan out and ended up signing a brand new cope with the New England Patriots in free company, the Packers may very well be gaining a good larger weapon in Deguara if he can rise to satisfy his new coach’s lofty expectations for his rookie season.
One yr into LaFleur’s tenure, Gutekunst went out and drafted gamers that match his new coach’s imaginative and prescient for Inexperienced Bay’s system. He traded as much as rating LaFleur a promising quarterback to groom for the long run — LaFleur actually wished Jordan love, per to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Gutekunst additionally drafted him a second-round energy rusher who supplies his dashing offense with a 3rd dimension alongside Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams.
The strategy has been no totally different in free company, both. All three of their free-agent signings — whereas actually influenced by value — match the character mildew of the kind of gamers LaFleur needs in his locker room, a component that has been necessary to him since Day 1.
Having know-how-it-goes gamers leaping aboard for 2020 additionally helps LaFleur guarantee he'll get the buy-in obligatory from newcomers as they implement new ideas and progress their system into its second yr. Guys like Kirksey, Wagner and Devin Funchess have all been round within the league lengthy sufficient to know the best way to deal with enterprise within the offseason, even because the coronavirus pandemic forces NFL groups to go digital this yr.
“I’m enthusiastic about this offseason,” LaFleur stated. “We’ve talked to our gamers, simply type of giving them a top level view of what’s to come back, and I’m simply wanting ahead to their suggestions and seeing how we will make this the perfect digital offseason that there's on the market.”
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