Packers Tonyan chasing San Fran’s Kittle

Before the 2017 NFL Draft, agent Jack Bechta had two of his tight end prospects work out together in Dallas.

One of them was George Kittle, who wound up being drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the fifth round after playing at Iowa. The other was Robert Tonyan, who wound up signing with the Detroit Lions as an undrafted free agent after playing quarterback and receiver at Indiana State.

Tonyan failed to make the Lions’ roster and was out of the league for three months before joining the Green Bay Packers’ practice squad for the end of the 2017 season. Over the past few years, he’s built himself into one of the better tight ends in the NFL. Perhaps the best tight end is Kittle.

That history made the first few weeks of the season especially intriguing for Tonyan. Facing the Lions on Monday night, Tonyan made one of the plays of the game with his 22-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter. Now, on Sunday night, it will be a matchup against Kittle, one of his best friends and, oddly enough, a former roommate.

In 2018, Kittle had one of the great seasons by a tight end in NFL history with his 88 receptions for 1,377 yards and five touchdowns. Tonyan, meanwhile, had merely four receptions for 77 yards.

That made the offseason between the 2018 and 2019 seasons particularly noteworthy. Kittle, needing a training partner, sent a group text message to a bunch of tight ends he knew. Tonyan, trying to build himself into a legitimate tight end, needed a mentor.

So, Tonyan responded. The two wound up working out and living together in Nashville. While Kittle had another monster season in 2019 to earn All-Pro honors, Tonyan was just starting to show his potential when he suffered a hip injury at Dallas that sidelined him for five weeks. They worked out together again during the offseason between the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

“I didn’t grow up with a brother; I grew up with an older sister,” Tonyan said. “She’s super-competitive and a tough girl. She’s one of my role models growing up. Now that I’m with George, everything’s a competition just because of the type of people we are. Whether it’s video games or weight room, we’re just always competing. He appreciates it because he has someone that is chasing him and I have someone that I’m chasing.”

This time, potential became production as Tonyan emerged as one of the NFL’s breakout performers. He caught 52 passes for 586 yards and 11 touchdowns. The touchdown total not only was tied with Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce for tops among tight ends, it was one more than Kittle scored even while catching a total of 173 passes in 2018 and 2019.

Of the 34 tight ends who were targeted at least 40 times in the passing game, Tonyan was No. 1 in catch percentage (89.7), drop percentage (0.0) and passer rating (148.3), according to Pro Football Focus. Throw in eight catches in the playoffs, Tonyan made 60 grabs without a drop. No tight end since Dallas’ Jason Witten (77 receptions in 2015) caught more passes than Tonyan in a season without a drop, according to PFF.

“He’s coming along really quickly,” Kittle said last year of Tonyan. “He’s an absolutely insane athlete, one of the most natural people I’ve ever seen catch a football. So, when you have that going for you, and he’s an incredibly hard worker, he’s going to find success.”

After offseason practices ended in June, Tonyan and Kittle were back at it. This time, it was part of Tight End University. The inaugural three-day event was organized by Kittle and featured 49 tight ends from around the league convening in Nashville to share the tricks of the trade.

“We’re sharing our strategy, our mind-set with guys,” Kittle told ESPN.com. “How do you flip the switch? All it’s doing is giving the opportunity for the tight end position to take a step forward. You have all of these guys that are so different but they play the same position. We wanted to bring all of the guys together who are the best in the world at their position and learn from each other. It allows these guys to learn about every aspect of their game. If you can do all of the things that a tight end can do, there’s not much a defense can do to stop you.”

Among the tight ends in attendance were Tonyan and teammates Marcedes Lewis and Dominique Dafney.

“It was just very beneficial to get around guys and seeing them in the classroom and their mentality in certain things and how they view defenses or view themselves,” Tonyan said. “I haven’t been able to be doing tight end for a while, so it’s good to get around those guys. Obviously, I’ve been around George for the past handful of years, so it was good to get around like guys like Travis Kelce and Greg Olsen and Darren Waller and just see their work, and what they put in and just try to take as much from them as possible and just kind of be a sponge.”

While hands and athleticism are among Tonyan’s strengths – his 70-catch streak without a drop ended in the opener against New Orleans – he’s a work in progress as a blocker and as a ball-carrier. In 2019, Kittle led all tight ends by forcing 20 missed tackles. In 2020, among the 33 tight ends with at least 25 catches, Tonyan was one of only two who didn’t force a single missed tackle. So, it perhaps was noteworthy to see Tonyan post a career-high 40 yards after the catch against Detroit.

As a blocker, Tonyan has two excellent mentors with Kittle and Lewis. If he can become more of an asset in that phase of the game, he could warrant a huge contract as a free agent after this season.

“Every day I try to get better at that because, obviously, that’s not what I was growing up doing. I was throwing the football and catching the football my whole life,” Tonyan said. “I can do it, I’m strong, I can bend, I’m physical. It’s kind of getting used to it, seeing the looks and playing fast in the box, and playing next to (Lewis) is obviously very encouraging and brings me confidence, and A-Rod putting us in the right positions to have those matchups and make those blocks is huge. But just day by day just keep getting better. That’s what I want to get better at mostly. I can run and catch all day, but can I put my face on someone for four quarters? I challenge myself with that every day.”