The Packers have so many playmakers at other positions that the defense usually doesn’t pay much attention to the tight ends and they have a talented bunch.  27-year old Donald Lee had a breakout season for the Packers in 2007.  He played in 15 games for the Packers last season and he caught 48 passes for 575 yards (12.0 avg) with 6 TD grabs.  Look for Lee to have even better numbers this season as he’s clearly the #1 TE on the Packers heading into this season.  Lee has now played in 77 games in his NFL career and he has caught 111 passes for 1,239 yards (11.2 avg) with 10 TD grabs. 

21-year old rookie Jermichael Finley has a nice upside but the Packers will probably bring him around slowly.  Finley played in 13 games (all starts) with Texas last season and he caught 45 passes for 575 yards (12.8 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  The Packers hope that Finley will be ready to play in 2 TE sets as a rookie as he is clearly the second most talented TE on the team.  Finley played in 26 games (17 starts) in his career at Texas and he caught 76 passes for 947 yards (12.5 avg) with 5 TDs.

The Packers keep raving about Tory Humphrey but he never makes it to the field before breaking down.  The 6′2″, 250 pound Humphrey did not play in a game with the Packers last season.  He last played in 2005 with the Packers and it was only 1 game.  He has yet to catch a pass in his NFL career which could be over if he doesn’t do something this season.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON:  B