Green Bay Packers: 3 Players to watch at 2019 NFL Combine

2. Irv Smith Jr., TE, Alabama

Iowa’s T.J. Hockenson is one option at tight end. However, the team will likely have to pick him at the No. 12 spot to get him. A solution to that is waiting till the second round to snag Irv Smith Jr. out of Alabama to bolster that tight end group. Hockenson, Fant and others will likely be the most explosive of this group, but Smith has to show that the gap between them isn’t this large divide that is insurmountable.

Smith may not be the best receiver or the fastest tight end, but he is arguably the most pro-ready of the group. He is a great blocker, which pairs perfectly with the Packers incumbent tight end, Jimmy Graham, who almost refuses to block, and he is still a pretty good pass catcher. Another pretty good tight end came out of Tuscaloosa a couple of years ago in the form of O.J. Howard, and Smith can be the next one.

This weekend will be huge for him in the athletic drills. He needs to show off a good amount of agility as well as raw speed in general. This is a deep tight end class, and teams could easily decide to wait until the third or fourth rounds to make a selection at that spot. For Smith and Green Bay, this week is his opportunity to come out and show them why they and the rest of the NFL need to make him a priority when they go on the clock.