Early in his time with the Green Bay Packers, head coach Matt LaFleur was desperately trying to find an H-back for this offense. An undersized TE who could still line up in-line, while also functioning
as a fullback. A Swiss Army Knife. His Kyle Juszczyk.
In 2020, the Packers drafted Josiah Deguara in the 3rd round, a TE out of the University of Cincinnati. At 6’2”, 240lbs, this was the H-back that LaFleur dreamed of. This was the piece that would help to complete the puzzle and open up the era of positional versatility that LaFleur dreamed of.
Sadly, it was not to be. Deguara tore his ACL in his rookie year and came back a little less explosive. His second season was promising (25 catches for 245 yards and 2 TDs), but that has been the best season of his career. With diminishing snaps and no impact in the offense, the Packers let Deguara walk after his rookie deal.
The Packers’ offense changed over the years, and the need for someone with the skillset of Deguara was less important than it was when he was drafted. The league moves and evolves. But everything old becomes new, and sometimes when you let go of your perfect dream, it finds you anyway.
Enter Josh Whyle, third-year TE from the University of Cincinnati. Not only is he from the same college as Deguara, he’s wearing the same number (81).
Where Deguara was a compact, brick of a man (6’2”, 240lbs), Whyle is much lankier (6’7”, 248lbs). Whyle spent his first 2 years in Tennessee, grabbing 37 passes for 342 yards and 2 TDs. Nothing eye-popping, but the Packers brought him to the practice squad in the offseason and signed him to the active roster after Tucker Kraft went down for the season. Through 2 games in Green Bay, he has 1 catch for 2 yards and a TD.
What’s more interesting than his production is how the Packers are using him. His alignment & usage is what you would expect to see from the H-back role. He’s doing normal TE stuff, but they’ve also got him aligned in the backfield and working as a fullback in the I-formation.
And it looks like they’re expanding his usage. Against the Eagles, Whyle played 6 offensive snaps (8.8%). Against the Giants, he was in on 20 offensive snaps (36.4%).
They’re using him as a traditional TE, putting him in-line and asking him to do normal TE things. Sometimes they’ve got him holding up on the outside, one-on-one on a run play.
They’ve got him slicing under the line to pick up the EMOL (End Man On Line), both as part of their split-zone runs and in pass protection.
He’s not without issues there. Against the Giants, he got bumped off his path and seemed to get lost, allowing an unblocked pressure off the edge.
He also got called for an obvious holding call on a run, where he comes flying under the line and just hooks the man he’s supposed to be blocking.
We’ll see if those are recurring issues or if he’s still trying to get his feet under him. This was, after all, his second game with the Packers, and even Tucker Kraft would miss on those slice blocks occasionally.
They used that slice block motion to get Whyle out in space. They had him releasing off the edge to act as a lead blocker on a zone read with Malik Willis at QB.
His TD came off a similar idea, running under the line as a split flow blocker and bypassing the EMOL to release into the flat.
As I mentioned earlier, they’ve also been using him in the backfield as a FB, and he showed some nice things out of that role against the Giants.
I have no idea if Whyle is a long-term piece on this team or a flash-in-the-pan. But it was really fun watching him against the Giants. As the Packers look to expand their run game, a guy like Whyle could be a nice, under-the-radar piece that could help them unlock a few things in this offense that felt nearly impossible after Kraft went down.
Albums listened to: Sparklehorse – It’s A Wonderful Life; Father John Misty – Pure Comedy
