Packers Select TE Josiah Deguara in 2020 NFL Draft - Round 3

With the 94th pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Green Bay Packers select tight end, Josiah Deguara from Cincinnati.

MEASURABLES/COMBINE:  

4.72 - 40 yard dash / 25 bench press reps / 35.5 vert / 115" broad jump / 7.15 3-cone drill / 4.35 shuttle

CAREER NOTES:

Josiah Deguara spent five years at Cincinnati where he would red-shirt in 2015 and then saw little playing time during the 2016 and 2017 seasons where he would total just 15 receptions during that span. However, as a junior his playing time would increase and naturally, so would his production. That season, Deguara appeared in 13 games and totaled 468 yards while averaging 12.3 yards per catch with five touchdowns. In 2019 Deguara's production was fairly similar as he would post 504 receiving yards at 12.9 yards per catch with 7 touchdowns. And to top it off, he would earn First-Team All-American Athletic Conference Honors. 

SCOUTING REPORTS:

Lance Zierlein of NFL.com: 

"Hard-nosed move tight end who will garner consideration as an NFL H-back. He's a gritty blocker who plays with good positioning and works hard at sustaining blocks to help his run game. As a pass catcher, Deguara is sure-handed with good feel for soft spots against zone, but may need an accurate thrower due to contested catch likelihood and suspect catch radius. He's the type of Day 3 prospect who flies under the radar, but ends up becoming a solid contributor at H-back."

Kyle Crabbs of The Draft Network: 

"Josiah Deguara projects as an ideal TE2 at the NFL level. There's some developmental upside to get more nuance out of Deguara's game, but he's currently a blue collar worker in the box who brings needed scrappy attitude and blocking success to the point of attack and just enough of a vertical threat in the pass game to be a constant thorn in the side of defenses. There's room for improvement, added nuance to some of Deguara's route running, which could lead to a starting role."

CHTV DRAFT GUIDE: FIT WITH THE PACKERS:

"DeGuara will see some work as an H-back in the NFL. That’s
something we’ve seen LaFleur use Sternberger as early in his
career. DeGuara might be a better fit for a role like that because
of his willingness and effectiveness as a run blocker. He’s
someone who would essentially replicate what Marcedes Lewis
gave them a season ago. DeGuara would be an immediate asset
in the run game. He’s more likely to be a possession receiver
as his career advances—anything else that you get in the passing
game should be viewed as a bonus."
 
Commentary:
As the third round of the draft was unfolding, Jim Owczarski of Packers News had mentioned that he was calling around and had been told that the Packers were moving towards a more "run-oriented attack". And while fans may not like how the draft has gone up to this point, it does shed some light on this selection. Josiah Deguara is not known as a dynamic pass-catching tight end but he is a reliable blocker, especially as a run-blocker. And as Zierlein mentioned in his scouting report, Deguara can fill the role of H-back on this Packers team. While on the surface this pick may be another head-scratcher, given that the Packers might be looking to be a more run heavy offense, adding a reliable blocker to the mix makes sense.
 
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__________________________

Born and raised in Green Bay, WI and I still call it home. After my family, watching the Packers, sharing my opinions on the team through my writing and interacting with other fans is my greatest passion. You can find me on Twitter at @Paul_Bretl. 
 

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Comments (53)

Fan-Friendly This filter will hide comments which have ratio of 5 to 1 down-vote to up-vote.
dobber's picture

April 24, 2020 at 10:58 pm

My stomach hurts.

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Mojo's picture

April 24, 2020 at 10:58 pm

WTF

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4thand1's picture

April 24, 2020 at 11:14 pm

Between you and dobber, usually voices of reason, I have to agree with both of you.

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Dzehren's picture

April 24, 2020 at 11:01 pm

I would like to social distance from this draft.

7 points
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Daren726's picture

April 24, 2020 at 11:03 pm

They took him to be a full back, not a tight end

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dobber's picture

April 24, 2020 at 11:06 pm

He's their stab at a Kyle Juszczyk-type player, yes, but waaaay to early.

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jannes bjornson's picture

April 25, 2020 at 09:48 am

He would not be available later, unless Gutey moved up in the fourth. The Bearcat offense was explosive and he is a sold football player. He can go inside or outside with running ability after the catch.

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tomb's picture

April 24, 2020 at 11:11 pm

Exactly

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Thegreatreynoldo's picture

April 24, 2020 at 11:33 pm

I wonder when the last FB was selected in the third round. There was a guy taken in the fourth not too long ago.

The TE is 6'2" and 242 lbs. Yes he can block but he is a 6th rounder. Loads of talent sitting there on the board. This is unbelievable.

Gute has 2020. Take an OL in the 5th and let Milt select the player. OL is not my highest priority, but something has to give here.

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stockholder's picture

April 24, 2020 at 11:06 pm

6'2" Really enjoyed watching the players taken after Guteys picks. The film , Family Time, and highlight reels, and comments. Gutey couldn't have drafted a better TE for the PS if he tried.

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4thand1's picture

April 24, 2020 at 11:11 pm

Do they want to become a run 1st team? The rest of this draft is shit too. 4 th gone and who cares about 5,6,7. How are we going to stop the run? Vikings and now lolions have a running back.

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Bure9620's picture

April 25, 2020 at 03:40 am

Yes, run

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HankScorpio's picture

April 25, 2020 at 06:32 am

Ok, run-first.

Then why trade up for a QB in round 1? It's like they changed the way they want to play football overnight.

"Hey, let's stack the QB room with talent and then let them twist in the wind with nothing to throw at and neglect their blocking protection"

"Great idea!!! And RBs don't really need blockers so this is really going to work out"

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jannes bjornson's picture

April 25, 2020 at 09:51 am

No time to panic. Hopefully he move up in the fourth and bags Fotu. They will probably bring Tramon back and hunt for another ILB via trade or cut downs. The run defense is on Pettine to square away his methods.

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rememberWhitehurst's picture

April 24, 2020 at 11:12 pm

Dane Brugler's draft guide compares him to Danny Vitale. Hback gets a couple mentions in the reports quoted here. Did the Packers just spend a third round pick on Danny Vitale's replacement? With Matt Peart, Lucas Niang, Akeem Davis- Gaither, and Donovan Peoples-Jones on the board? So confusing.

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Thegreatreynoldo's picture

April 24, 2020 at 11:35 pm

That's precisely what they did. Degaura isn't a move TE. He is an H-back.

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jannes bjornson's picture

April 25, 2020 at 09:54 am

They already have developmental O lineman on the roster that are further along in the scheme. Peart has length,but is not very strong. Degaura is way better than Vitale.

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Nate-1980's picture

April 24, 2020 at 11:12 pm

I’m stunned at how bad this draft is, I don’t even want to see the next picks.. I’m sure there will be some late round” gem” receivers.. Call me, or any of the other armchair gms dumb, but I’d be happier with any of your picks over this garbage..

Ps.. I think a lot of you guys are smart and thank you for this blog to learn about a lot football related..This is a joke..:(

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GTEPacker4life's picture

April 24, 2020 at 11:45 pm

Are you referring to the draft class or the GM making the picks? Either way I need Pepto Bismol right now

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ShawnO's picture

April 24, 2020 at 11:21 pm

FIRE Brian Gutekunst!!!

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Kevin Carpenter's picture

April 24, 2020 at 11:25 pm

This is a disgrace. It's like they are content with the team that they had last year, because this draft and free agency has shown us they don't want to do anything to make us better. A backup QB that we wasted a 4th round pick to trade up to draft? A backup running back who likely won't see the field ahead of Dexter Williams Jamaal Williams Tyler Ervin and Aaron Jones? And now, of all of the slap-in-the-face picks that people were joking about, they drafted a fullback. In the third round. I am disgusted with this draft.

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4thand1's picture

April 24, 2020 at 11:28 pm

Dillon is not a back up RB. 1600 yards and 14 td's when teams were keying on him. He didn't play in the bowl game either. This pick looks better the more you look at it.

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Thegreatreynoldo's picture

April 24, 2020 at 11:42 pm

I have to think Aaron Jones will be the starter and get the bulk of the snaps. GB won't worry about snaps if they are going to let him walk in 2021. IDK, maybe Dillon competes with the complementary snaps with Jamaal Williams. Dillon might become the starter in 2021, and that is by default.

Nothing like drafting backups and rotational players on day one and two.

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Coldworld's picture

April 25, 2020 at 01:03 am

Looks like variety and more 2 back sets to me. I see this as improving our overall running attack if the pick works out. If it helps to maintain possession, gain hard yards and open things up for Jones, I think that’s a fair spend. I assume he was picked with a view to starting next year. Most receivers wouldn’t have been sure starters of choice either. Now, let’s see if he lives up to that rating.

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Thegreatreynoldo's picture

April 25, 2020 at 02:46 am

I don't really see how GB is going re-sign Bakh or Linsley. Now that LT Tunsil got 3 years, $66M ($22M AAV) with $40M payable at signing, Bakh is going to be hard to sign. All off-season Gute said that the Clark extension was a priority, but I don't think GB has two nickels to rub together. LaFleur wants to run the ball, but he is going to need some OL, isn't he?

Who knows. I can't help but think Covid is going to hurt the cap. If the NFL is the only game in town, maybe there is some odd set of factors that might increase the cap limit.

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jannes bjornson's picture

April 25, 2020 at 09:56 am

Dillon is already ahead of Williams on the depth chart.

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Kevin Carpenter's picture

April 25, 2020 at 10:02 am

My point is that we already have 4 running backs on the roster. You really think he's going to get playing time over Jones and Williams? Jones is the best pass protecting back on the team and Aaron Jones is electric. Outside of maybe the occasional goal-line dive I do not see him getting much playing time this year. That was not the pick for this team unless they are hell bent on getting rid of Jones next year.

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Bearmeat's picture

April 24, 2020 at 11:26 pm

A project QB that doens't make financial sense and two slow skill players, that fit right in with our other slow skill players, neither of which happen to play the worst position on the team for the last 2 years. Oh, and we lost our 4th rounder for the trouble. WTF!

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GTEPacker4life's picture

April 24, 2020 at 11:28 pm

So, I guess Guty thinks our defense doesn’t need improvement? SMH. It is true, Guty may find out soon enough the NFL really does mean Not For Long.

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Coldworld's picture

April 25, 2020 at 01:07 am

I disagree that the two players drafted are slow or untalented in the roles I expect them to play. There is clearly a strategy to improve the offense by resembling a LaFleur’s history not Rodgers/MMs.

Didn’t see it coming, but it looks like the Packers have a different assessment of last season’s offensive woes and a different cure in mind. Will it be an improvement? I don’t know, but at least I see a plan, albeit one I never foresaw. It is one that could be calculated to keep the O on the field for longer. Which is good because we badly needed depth inside. There are run specialist DLs left, but is the help at ILB/Hybrid where I see no depth with any experience behind two players who missed most of last year. Surely that is untenable?

It certainly looks like the team has ended the debate on who is driving the offense and it’s execution. It is certainly not Rodgers but LaFleur who is shaping this draft.

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Bure9620's picture

April 25, 2020 at 03:41 am

Pound the Rock

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jannes bjornson's picture

April 25, 2020 at 10:21 am

CW, we could see it coming when Vitale was out half the time and Rodgers was missing the toss on 3rd and short, to send the defense back on the field. Deguara is a really solid football player he can be a factor in the short game. To me, Burrow and Love were the two best QBs in this draft, projecting into the Pro level.
Dillon is my guy since day one for the power back. Watch his film, similar to Dorsey Levens style. Jamal Williams is not in his league.

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David Aures's picture

April 24, 2020 at 11:29 pm

Who..

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4thand1's picture

April 24, 2020 at 11:31 pm

The TE WAS a reach, no doubt.

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4thand1's picture

April 24, 2020 at 11:32 pm

Has anyone heard from Aaron Rodgers?

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stockholder's picture

April 24, 2020 at 11:49 pm

It was reported during the draft, #12 called Love and congratulated him. Nothing more.

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GTEPacker4life's picture

April 24, 2020 at 11:41 pm

Did the Bears pay someone to get the packers to hire Gute?

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tomb's picture

April 24, 2020 at 11:52 pm

Becoming clear that this draft is the definitive reality of molding the offense in LaFleur,'s vision. In this vision it would seem the QB is not as vital as the SYSTEM he is striving to create. I get it, but AR is not a system QB. While he remains a Packer should not the offense be designed and built specifically around HIS talents? Designed directly FOR his HOF greatness? I have no quarrel w Matt's O ideas, but the neglect of the O-line both to facilitate his zone run scheme and to protect the team's most valuable asset remains puzzling. The problem would appear to be that not everything can be accomplished in one draft/year. But but the time LaFleur's image is built Aaron may be gone or on the way out. Or is that the whole vision, with Love them stepping in to run the now -in -place SYSTEM, a young yes man ready to obey and please, as opposed to the old MVP who will never truly be bridled. ? I guess it's in with the new out with the old, ever the way of life. But in believe in this case it is utter foolishness and perhaps hubris as well to not be going ALL IN with the plan bring to WIN NOW, with & because of AR, drafting to support and enable that purpose. The future is, or SHOULD BE, NOW.

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jannes bjornson's picture

April 25, 2020 at 10:38 am

The play action passing game is the strength of Rodgers passing and will keep him clean. Do not let the opposition tee off on him. He has a new RT that has a hard time with speed rushers. Beat down on the Edge people, just like the 49rs annihilated the Smith bros.

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Thegreatreynoldo's picture

April 25, 2020 at 12:11 am

Bill O'Brien and the Texans have signed LT Larry Tunsil to a 3 year, $66M extension, or $22M AAV. That is a 22% increase over the highest paid OT in the NFL. Just in time for Bakh's deal. Tunsil is under contract for $10.5M in 2020 and this deal is tacked on. Tunsil gets no less than $40M at signing. Tunsil had PFF grades of 75 and 74 the last two seasons.

Maybe it will be an outlier since Houston traded firsts for Tunsil w/o getting a contract in place. OTOH, maybe GB should have drafted an OT. I don't know why Josh Jones fell so far. Maybe Niang of Driscoll will be there in the 5th.

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Amy Berk's picture

April 25, 2020 at 06:30 am

LaFleur is a good coach because of Rodgers, not the other way around. When you have the best quarterback of all time, you build around him. After reading how football experts believe Love is a 2nd rated QB and not comparable to ARod, I think ARod doesn't have much to worry about. If they don't pick a replacement for Martinez soon it's going to be a long season.
However, with COVID, I wonder if we'll have a 2020 season.

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TarynsEyes's picture

April 25, 2020 at 12:21 am

Last seasons 13-3 record is getting farther and farther away with each and every selection.

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Leatherhead's picture

April 25, 2020 at 01:12 am

A lot of folks with their panties in a wad over a draft where we got a franchise QB, a pile driving RB, and a versatile TE/H-back. Weapons!!! Oooooooohhhhh.

The old way is gone. The offense is going to force people to stop the run and then hope Rodgers doesn’t burn them. Low turnover grind it out smash mouth offense. What’s not to like?

I know some of you want Rodgers to take a bunch of unnecessary hits so we can sling it, but we’re gonna grind instead of sling.

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WelshMatt's picture

April 25, 2020 at 01:34 am

Hi Leatherhead. First time poster inspired by the draft ;-)
This makes complete sense to me and your post does make me feel better but I'm worried that we perhaps could have gotten these types of weapons later in the draft? Or do you think it was a case of Gute loving these two specifically and perhaps reaching in the draft to get his guys?
I am looking forward to the season more after your post so thanks.

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jannes bjornson's picture

April 25, 2020 at 10:30 am

Who? Cmet, Sternberger is better than he is. Mims? This guy would take two-three years to figure out the WCO.
Shenault is an injury risk. Pittman is already on the roster. Duvernay was snatched two picks ahead of the Pack by the Crows in round three. The Raiders took Bowden and Edwards who were rated third round. They would shoot Gutedkunst if he took them in round two, and I really liked Both guys. Not moving on a CB probably means Tramon is back onboard.
I have been pushing for Dillon since last year. Power running back with outside zone ability. A Dorsey Levens type guy. Gutedkunst needs to get back into the fourth rd and bag a DT. The ILBs were all snatched in round one. Murray was poached by the Chargers in the deal with Big Bad Bill. The Packers will be able to sustain drives with a guy who can move the chains on 3rd and 3 running it, instead of an incomplete pass for the three and outs that kill the defense.

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HankScorpio's picture

April 25, 2020 at 06:26 am

"A lot of folks with their panties in a wad over a draft where we got a franchise QB, a pile driving RB, and a versatile TE/H-back. Weapons!!! Oooooooohhhhh."

Spears and knives are indeed weapons---weapons of limited usefulness in a world that has guns.

I suppose the franchise QB would fit the analogy of being a gun. Unfortunately, the Packers are not giving him any bullets so the gun has the usefulness of a club.

It's not the 1980s anymore.

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greenpanther79's picture

April 25, 2020 at 06:55 am

It has nothing to do with the picks per se and everything to do to where they picked the players in the draft. Dillon was projected in the third round and Deguara in the sixth. If the Packers would have picked them in those rounds, most people would have been fine with it. If the Packers were really high on these players, trade back a bit and get more draft picks.

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jannes bjornson's picture

April 25, 2020 at 10:25 am

The Pack grabbed him at #62. He would not be there at # 94. Deguara was rated as a FB/HB. LaFleur knows how to use him. He was a great player in the Bearcat scheme. Now you have a guy that can iso on the safety/LB for the block or split off into the flats for the QUICK pass. Move the ball out of Rodgers hands faster. The one-ring circus plays Rodgers advocated for retaining from the McCarthy scheme will slowly go away. Motion offense with the WRs crossing in timing routes. Rodgers know the score. This offense has improved. Which WR from round two would beat out Lazard or Funchess or Equan?

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HankScorpio's picture

April 25, 2020 at 06:22 am

Deguara is one of the few TEs that I considered draftable. In round 6. I figured he'd be gone by then. Because some dumb GM would chase one of the better players in a weak class way too early. I guess I was half right. It's just a shame it is the Packers GM that played the role.

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jannes bjornson's picture

April 25, 2020 at 10:42 am

How many Bearcat games have you watched the past couple of years? Next draft they have a dynamic RB and WR. The kid from Buffalo is also a good RB. The MAC delivers good NFL players.

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Fanaic's picture

April 25, 2020 at 07:23 am

Let me think about this we one of the best throwing quarterbacks of all time spend a ton of draft capital to move up to get a strong armed quarterback to sit on the bench. But we are moving to a more run orientated office. Oh that explains it

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PatrickGB's picture

April 25, 2020 at 08:09 am

Gutie is Mike Sherman 2.0

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Irish_Cheesehead's picture

April 25, 2020 at 08:43 am

Reminds me more of an old Ted draft where he tried to prove he was smarter than the other 31 GMs.

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