The Packers 2019 season is officially over and now it is time to look ahead towards the offseason. Between free agency and the draft, there will be a lot of change within the organization, both with its players and its personnel.

A consistent theme amongst Packers teams since Jermichael Finley’s untimely retirement is the utter lack of production from the tight end position. Whether it be Andrew Quarless, Richard Rodgers, Martellus Bennet, Jared Cook or Jimmy Graham, the position has simply not lived up to expectations. Assuming the Packers move on from Graham, there would seem to be once again, a major hole at the tight end position for the Packers.

I’ve already seen dozens of posts about adding a big-name tight end, whether through free agency or via the draft and I simply don’t get it. The Packers just invested a 3rd round pick in Jace Sternberger, a tight end that was highly regarded coming out of college and yet, people are already writing him off.

It seems like people have forgotten that he missed the first eight weeks of the season. In total (playoffs included), Sternberger played on only 99 of a possible 463 snaps. How can fans expect a rookie to make an impact when he’s barely playing more than 20% of the snaps?

Even rookie tight ends who haven’t been plagued by injury have historically struggled to adapt to the NFL playing speed. For reference, I’m going to list some of the game's best tight ends and show you their stats as a rookie. The numbers will surprise you.

As a rookie, Tony Gonzalez arguably the greatest tight end of all time had 33 receptions, 368 yards and two touchdowns in 16 games. Antonio Gates, another all-time great played 15 games as a rookie, totaling 24 receptionist, 389 yards and two touchdowns. Current Packer, Jimmy Graham has had an impressive career, but it didn’t start out so pretty. As a rookie, Graham played in 15 games accumulating 31 receptions, 356 yards, and five touchdowns. And finally, George Kittle comes to mind. Maybe today’s most exciting tight end had a quiet start to his career as well finishing his rookie campaign with 43 receptions, 515 yards, and two touchdowns.

As you can see, it is extremely rare for a tight end to come in as a rookie and immediately become a difference maker. In year two, though, I think Jace Sternberger can become just that. He has a large frame that will be key in the red zone while still having the ability to move remarkably well in the open field.

In his first opportunity as a college starter at Texas A&M, Sternberger had 48 receptions for 832 yards and 10 touchdowns. As impressive as those numbers are, it’s his average yards per reception that stood out to me most. He had a whopping 17.3 yards per reception in his final year in college. For reference, Travis Kelce and George Kittle each average right around 12 yards a reception.

Year one may not have been the most memorable but as we’ve seen in the past, tight ends need some time to develop. The Packers going out and spending another high draft pick or a ton of money on a tight end is not what they need. They already have what they need in Sternberger. Now, let’s just give him a chance.