Matt LaFleur Envisions Unique Role for Packers’ New Pass-Catcher

Matt LaFleur doesn’t see a typical tight end when he looks at Josiah Deguara, nor does he plan on using him as one in the Green Bay Packers offense next year.

Deguara, the Packers’ third-round draft pick, was the lone pass-catcher added to the team’s offseason roster through the 2020 NFL draft after they avoided taking a single wide receiver with any of their nine selections.

The 6-foot-2, 242-pound product out of Cincinnati supplies the Packers with another tight end who possesses great hands and enough speed to attack the seams, making for an ideal pairing with last year’s third-rounder Jace Sternberger. He caught 92 passes for 1,117 yards and 12 touchdowns during his four seasons with the Bearcats, the bulk of which came in 2018 and ’19.

For LaFleur, though, the approach to making the best use of him in the Packers’ offense is a little more complex than a plug-and-play tight end.

“I love Josiah,” LaFleur said during Saturday’s post-draft teleconference. “He is extremely versatile. The thing that he brings to our offense is 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. I just think that adds stress to a defense in terms of how are these guys going to line up and what is it exactly they’re going to do.”

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Could Deguara be Spark Plug in 2020 Offense?

The role LaFleur is describing for Deguara resembles something similar to what he had been hoping to get out of former fullback Danny Vitale last season. While Vitale didn’t pan out and ended up signing a new deal with the New England Patriots in free agency, the Packers could be gaining an even greater weapon in Deguara if he can rise to meet his new coach’s lofty expectations for his rookie season.

One year into LaFleur’s tenure, Gutekunst went out and drafted players that fit his new coach’s vision for Green Bay’s system. He traded up to score LaFleur a promising quarterback to groom for the future — LaFleur really wanted Jordan love, per to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Gutekunst also drafted him a second-round power rusher who provides his rushing offense with a third dimension alongside Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams.

The approach has been no different in free agency, either. All three of their free-agent signings — while certainly influenced by price — fit the character mold of the type of players LaFleur wants in his locker room, an element that has been important to him since Day 1.

Having know-how-it-goes players jumping aboard for 2020 also helps LaFleur ensure he will get the buy-in necessary from newcomers as they implement new concepts and progress their system into its second year. Guys like Kirksey, Wagner and Devin Funchess have all been around in the league long enough to know how to handle business in the offseason, even as the coronavirus pandemic forces NFL teams to go virtual this year.

“I’m excited about this offseason,” LaFleur said. “We’ve talked to our players, just kind of giving them an outline of what’s to come, and I’m just looking forward to their feedback and seeing how we can make this the best virtual offseason that there is out there.”

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