Packers News: Team signs TE Stoneburner to active roster

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The Packers have promoted tight end Jake Stoneburner to the active roster.
The Packers have promoted tight end Jake Stoneburner to the active roster.

According to Jason La Canfora’s official Twitter account, the Green Bay Packers have signed tight end Jake Stoneburner to the active roster following their recent rash of injuries.

Last week against the Baltimore Ravens, the Packers lost wide receiver Randall Cobb for six-to-eight weeks with a fractured fibula. Fellow wide receiver James Jones suffered a sprained MCL and appears questionable for Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns.

Stoneburner’s promotion to the 53-man roster gives the Packers five tight ends and three wide receivers, including Jones.

An athletic rookie tight end from Ohio State, Stoneburner was often split out wide in Urban Meyer’s offense. He clocked a 4.53 forty-yard dash at Ohio State’s Pro Day Mar. 8, which would suggest an ability to stretch the field; however, Stoneburner only caught 53 passes in his four-year collegiate career.

In his junior season in 2011, seven of Stoneburner’s were for touchdowns.

Without Cobb in the slot, starting tight end Jermichael Finley will likely be split out more often than usual with Andrew Quarless filling Finley’s shoes as an in-line blocker. Finley, at 6’5″ 250 pounds, isn’t capable of taking on all of Cobb’s responsibilities in the Packers’ offense, but at this point, he may be the team’s best option to stretch the field from the slot.

Last week, the Browns signed wide receiver Charles Johnson off the Packers’ practice squad, leaving Myles White and the recently re-signed Reggie Dunn as the team’s two wide receivers on the practice squad.

As of right now, the Packers have not announced the necessary roster move to promote Stoneburner, but one would figure that Cobb is a logical candidate for the I.R./Designated to Return list.

The Packers reportedly tried to sign wide receiver Tavarres King off the Denver Broncos’ practice squad, but King has since been promoted to Denver’s active roster. More moves could be on the horizon for the Packers, but for now, it looks like they’ll go heavy at tight end and light at wide receiver for the near future.

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Marques is a Journalism student, serving as the Sports Editor of UW-Green Bay\'s campus newspaper The Fourth Estate and a Packers writer at Jersey Al\'s AllGBP.com. Follow Marques on Twitter @MJEversoll.

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25 thoughts on “Packers News: Team signs TE Stoneburner to active roster

  1. Might help. Presumably he has a good grasp of the playbook. EXCEPT for Bears game, schedule looks soft from now till Turkey Day. Maybe Stoneburner is tough enough to make catches in the middle of the field.

  2. I’m disappointed that the Pack didn’t get Tavarres King from the Broncos’ PS. He’s a talented receiver on a team that is loaded with talented receivers. They have 4 (Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker, Wes Welker, and Julius Thomas), each of whom is on a receiving pace of 1,000 yds. or more for the season. TT had the opportunity to draft King in the 5th round but passed on him then. I’m happy for Stoneburner, though. It’s a good opportunity for him.

      1. Hyde would have been there in the 6th round. Today, he’s one of 7 CBs on the active roster. He’s OK as a punt returner but is considered a bit too slow for a CB and, therefore, may be converted to safety. I saw him every year at Iowa and I never saw a game in which he wasn’t beat. Good kid, though. Good tackler, but is he necessary for this team? I doubt it.

          1. Obviously, there is no telling what any GM will do on draft day (and what TT does has often left me scratching my head and wondering “why”), but my statement that Hyde would have been there in the 6th round was not an uneducated or unreasonable one. I will qualify it, though, by saying that he “probably” would have been there. According to Drafttek, for whom Jersey Al serves as the Packers’ Team Correspondent, Hyde’s selection as the 159th player picked was a “reach” by 38 positions. In other words, he was projected to be the 197th player selected. The Pack picked Nate Palmer in the 6th round as the 193rd player selected. Palmer was considered a “reach” by 262 positions (in other words, he should have been an undrafted free agent at least according to Drafttek). Moreover, even if TT had used the 159th pick for Tavarres King, he “probably” could have selected Hyde later in the 5th round with the 167th pick, which was used for Josh Boyd (another “reach,” this time by 57 positions, making Boyd a projected 7th rounder). Interestingly, Denver selected King with the 161st pick, only 2 picks after Hyde. Drafttek, though, regarded the King selection as a “value” by 52 draft positions — meaning he was projected to be the 109th player picked (a 4th round pick). Again, there’s no telling what any GM will do and it is left to each fan to assess the merits of Drafttek’s evaluation process, but I find its “reach” and “value” analyses objectively useful information. My statement about Hyde “probably” being available in the 6th round was based upon that.

            1. Do you see the irony in the fact that you defended your statement that Hyde would have been available later in the draft because, according to Drafttek, he was a 38 spot reach..

              Only to immediately point out that Denver picked King 52 selections after Drafttek believed he would be picked?? In essence, the question becomes, “Was King a VALUE PICK for Denver to the tune of 58 slots, or did Drafttek OVERVALUE King to the tune of 58 Slots? Now, what about HYDE? Based on actual PERFORMANCE so far, I’d say the Packers knew what they were doing with HYDE, and maybe, just maybe, some other GM’s wanted him early that 197 as well. We’ll never know.

              It would be interesting to see how far off from the predicted slotting each player selected from the 3rd to 7th round ended up being.

            2. I, too, like Drafttek’s analysis. It has a national board of talent evaluators. Its designation of “value” picks and “reaches” is not the subjective opinion of one person. It uses objective evaluative criteria when assessing the relative projected draft position for each player. At least with his picks from the 5th round on, Thompson seems to have “reached” for his players. He must be a bit of a gambler.

              1. GMs sometimes “reach” for a player because of need. For example, the Bears selected Kyle Long to fill a need for its OL with the 20th pick even though Long was rated by Drafttek as the 86th best player in the draft. Contrary to what TT often says, he doesn’t always select “the best player available.” The player selected may be the “best player available who can fill a particular need,” but that doesn’t mean the best player regardless of position who remains on the draft board.

              2. It’s not always about reaching to fill a position. GM’s have much different draft boards then the internet “experts.” Reports came out after the draft that the Packers would have selected Kyle Long if the Bears hadn’t. Obviously, NFL teams had him rated higher than the 86th best player.

                Look at Jesse Williams. Most mocks had him going in the late first round…he didn’t get drafted till the fifth. There’s a big difference between the guys picking on draftek (no offense Al) and real scouts and GM’s.

    1. P.S. In a comment to one of the posts from yesterday I noted the possibility that Stoneburner may be called-up from the PS and that he’s a very versatile receiver. In 2012 at Ohio St., he was used as a tight end, wide receiver and lined up in the slot or as an H-back. At 6′-3,” 249 lbs. he’s a big target for AR.

  3. This might be a blessing in disguise. If we could possibly (I know, it’s a stretch) establish a two tight end effective offensive attack up the middle that would really open up the edge once Cobb & Jones return. I know. It is wishful thinking, but it is time for the next man to step up. And coming out of Ohio State, this guy should at least have some mental toughness. Now, Get the job done!

    1. I agree, look what happened when Finley went down in 2010, Rodgers had to go elsewhere and thus the “spreading it around” thing happened.
      Also, McPuffy obviously has failed to watch any of the film of Holmgren’s success with 2 tight ends when he coached the Pack. Right now I’m more concerned with our linebacker depth, can Stoneburner play LB, or maybe Ryan Taylor? Taylor seems to have the mean streak for the position. Then again, if Hawk can keep up what he did on Sunday maybe we can by with 3 LB’s.

  4. I worry more about the defensive injury’s at linebacker than the receiving ones. I would like to see someone who can play strong safety. We might see more throws to the running backs from the two tight end sets.

  5. I wonder if maybe Stoneburner was getting some interest from other teams and this both addresses a need and keeps him away from the opposition…

  6. I would like to see us work some 2 TE sets and maybe, just maybe, have Finley step-up his game. With the ground game starting to roll the TE’s can be problematic for defenses.

    Needless to say, but Boykin must step-up and take advantage of the opportunity.

  7. Perhaps MM has decided it’s time to see if the Packers can play smash-mouth, clock control, hard running football.

    Maybe they’ve decided that the prime focus, considering the players currently available to them, will be running hard with Eddie Lacy & Co., work the underneath stuff with TEs, let Boykin work the quick hitters and see if he can continue to produce with the RAC/YAC (His big gainer showed exceptional play-making ability after the catch), move the chains with James Jones in controlled fashion, and take advantage when teams start to cheat up into the box with the over-the-top, deep speed of Nelson (and Jones).

    5 TE’s, 3 WR’s.. Let’s see what the Packers look like for the next few weeks while guys are getting healthy. COuld be interesting.

    1. “Perhaps MM has decided it’s time to see if the Packers can play smash-mouth, clock control, hard running football.”

      It would seem that’s been the case almost all season. Starks 100+, Franklin 100+, Lacy 99, Lacy 120+. Sure seems like that’s pretty smashmouth football. What team have you been watching?

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