The Green Bay Packers have a big season ahead of them. As they transition into their first season without Mike McCarthy at the helm, expectations are high. New coach Matt LaFleur desperately needs to get the team back to their winning ways after back to back seasons of missing the playoffs.
Aaron Rodgers has been banged up and not quite himself the last two years, and the most important thing will be making sure he's buying in to what the coaching staff is selling. But in addition to the defense and Rodgers' enthusiasm, the development of rookie tight end Jace Sternberger will also be important for the future.
The Packers drafted Sternberger in the third round out of Texas A&M, and they're hoping he can end up being the tight end of the future. Last year's splashy free agent acquisition, Jimmy Graham, didn't live up to expectations in 2018, and it's possible this is his final year with the team.
Ahead of his rookie campaign, Pro Football Focus shared an interesting stat about the young tight end. Sternberger had the most touch down and first down receptions among tight ends in the SEC last year, ‘conversions', and it wasn't even close.
Packers TE Jace Sternberger had more receiving conversions than any other SEC TE last year pic.twitter.com/jmoyvmzNY5
— PFF (@PFF) May 12, 2019
In fact, he had ten more than Irv Smith Jr., who went much earlier in the draft to the division rival Minnesota Vikings. That's got to be an encouraging sign for Packers fans, to know Sternberger was highly productive in college. Last season he racked up 832 yards and ten touchdowns, and he had barely played any college ball before that.
In two seasons at Kansas before transferring to the Aggies, he had just one catch. As such, he would seemingly still have a ton of room to grow and develop. He'll be an important name to monitor this summer.
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