Last season, Packers tight end Robert Tonyan had a Pro Bowl-caliber season. The former Indiana State star had 19 career receptions in his first two years with Green Bay but more than doubled that in 2020, his first year as a starter. He also caught 11 touchdown passes, nine more than he had in his first two NFL seasons combined.

Tonyan’s numbers are well off his 2020 pace thus far this season and there are several reasons for it, some of which have nothing to do with the way Tonyan is playing.

First, it would be difficult for any player to match the efficiency Tonyan showed last season. The big tight end had 52 catches on 59 targets according to pro-football-reference.com, an incredible 88.1 percent catch percentage. By comparison, All Pro wide receiver Davante Adams, widely considered one of the league’s best receivers (if not the best) had a catch percentage of 77.2.

The 88.1 percent catch percentage is nearly unheard of and Tonyan could catch 10-15 percent fewer of the passes thrown his way and still be performing at an elite level. This year, through the first five game, Tonyan’s catch percentage is only 52.9 percent.

It’s not just Tonyan’s efficiency that has gone down this season. The entire Packers offense has not matched its 2020 production. In 2020, the Packers led the league in scoring. Their red zone efficiency was also a league-best 76.81. Through five games this year, the Pack is 13^th in the league in points scored and has fallen to 27^th in the league in red zone efficiency, scoring touchdowns just 55 percent of the time they get deep into opponent’s territory.

A big reason for the falloff in offensive productivity and efficiency is another reason for Tonyan’s statistical drop: the injuries to the Packers offensive line. The Packers have not had All Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari all season because of a knee injury he suffered before last year’s season finale. He remains on the PUP list.

In Bakhtiari’s absence, the Packers moved Pro Bowl left guard Elgton Jenkins to left tackle. Jenkins played well in the first two games of the year, but then he injured his ankle and has missed the last three contests. Yosh Nijman stepped in and did a respectable job starting the last three games but the Packers had to give him help in pass blocking and that meant that tight ends like Tonyan had to help chip pass rushers and block more often than they normally would in the Packers normal offense.

The team also had to alter their play calling to emphasize shorter, quick release passes that favored wide receivers and running backs more than tight ends. The result is fewer opportunities for Tonyan to get open and make plays.

The injuries to the offensive line also hurt the Packers ability to convert inside the red zone this season. Remember, Tonyan was a big weapon in the red zone in 2020 with seven of his 11 scoring plays coming from inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. If the Packers can re-open their entire playbook once the offensive line gets healthy again, Tonyan’s touchdown total should go up as well.

The absence of Marquez Valdes-Scantling has also hurt Tonyan’s productivity. MVS is the Packers best deep threat. Because defenders always had to respect his speed, more room would open-up underneath and over the middle on plays when Valdes-Scantling ran long patterns downfield. Tonyan was able to take advantage of those open spaces to make critical catches.

But the Packers offense has reason for optimism. Bakhtiari is eligible to start practicing with the team again after the Bears game. Jenkins is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game in Chicago but did practice more this week than he has since the injury. Starting center Josh Myers is also expected back in the lineup after missing last week’s game in Cincinnati and MVS is eligible to come off the IR after the Bears game.

Tight ends coach Justin Outten didn’t seem very worried about Tonyan’s slower start to this season. “If you look at Bobby right now, you could say he's having a slow start statistically,” Outten said. “The other aspects of his game have really improved, and that's what fires me up about his situation because in those aspects, when he is improving in those worlds, he's helping us with the most important stat, which is a win. He is a major piston in our engine, and he brings everything to light. The responsibility he has on his plate, whether it's a chip or a run block or he's going out in a route, he takes pride in it. I'm just proud of his process and sticking with everything that's asked of him. I'm just excited to see the whole picture coming into play here.”

There are still 12 games left on the schedule for Tonyan to back to his 2020 level of production. All signs point to a stronger finish this season for the Packers top pass catching tight end.