Green Bay Packers duo among top undrafted pass-catchers

One of the more interesting stats I discovered this week revealed that the much-maligned Green Bay Packers receiving corps has two players in the Top 10 of a 2022 receiving category. Surprising, huh?

Let me explain.

Wide receiver Allen Lazard and tight end Robert Tonyan this season are ranked third (Tonyan) and seventh (Lazard) in most receptions by an undrafted player. Los Angeles Chargers all-purpose back Austin Ekeler leads undrafted players this season with 41 catches.

I know it’s not an official stat (the undrafted part), but the success of these two Packers pass-catchers is noteworthy on many levels, especially since both are productive NFL players who were not drafted out of college.

Lazard went undrafted out of Iowa State and has been with the team since 2018. Tonyan, who played at Indiana State, also began his NFL career in Green Bay in 2018.

Not only are Tonyan and Lazard in the Top 10 of this unofficial ‘undrafted’ stat, but the pair also ranks third (Lazard) and fifth (Tonyan) in targets by undrafted players, and second (Lazard) and sixth (Tonyan) in receiving yards by undrafted players this season.

The Green Bay pair also rank second to the Chargers’ Ekeler and DeAndre Carter in most receptions by a pair of undrafted teammates this season. Tonyan and Lazard’s 47 receptions are second to Ekeler and Carter’s 57.

For the record, Tonyan (27) and Lazard (20) through the first six games this season rank first and third for the Packers in most receptions.

In their four-plus years in Green Bay, Lazard has tallied 18 TDs while Tonyan has found the end zone 16 times. Those TD totals place Lazard and Tonyan in the Top 10 of most TDs scored by an undrafted Green Bay Packers player.

Former tight end Paul Coffman tops the list with 39 TDs in his eight-year career in Green Bay. Coffman began his pro career as a free-agent signee with the Packers in 1978 after three years at Kansas State.

Here is a list of the undrafted Green Bay Packers players with the most career TDs. (Note: The list only includes undrafted players who started their careers with the Packers after 1936, the first year of the draft.)

39-Paul Coffman (1978-85)
35-Ted Fritsch (1942-50)
29-Ryan Grant (2007-12)
26-Ed West (1984-94)
23-John Kuhn (2007-15)
18-Allen Lazard (2018-active)
17-Bob Mann (1950-54)
16-Robert Tonyan (2018-active)
12-Carl Mulleneaux (1938-41)
9-Tony Fisher (2002-05)
8-Paul Ott Carruth (1986-89)

Most career TDs scored in the NFL by an undrafted player is 116 by Antonio Gates. The eight-time Pro Bowler went undrafted out of Kent State in 2003 and had a 16-year NFL career, all with the Chargers.