One month after claiming him off waivers but failing his physical, the Green Bay Packers signed tight end Luke Lachey to the team’s offseason roster on Monday. Lachey, a seventh-round pick of the Houston Texans in the 2025 draft, spent his entire rookie season on the Texans practice squad before being released in May.
Lachey (6-6, 250) played in over 40 games and made 32 starts while at Iowa, where he caught 74 passes for 843 yards and four scores. He only dropped three passes. While not a dynamic receiving threat, Lachey has blocking experience and inline potential and could give the Packers another option at traditional “Y” tight end behind Tucker Kraft.
After catching four touchdown passes in 2022, Lachey had 10 catches during his first three games of the 2023 season but suffered a significant ankle injury and missed the final 11 games. He was a team captain in 2023 and 2024.
Before the 2025 draft, Lachey posted a Relative Athletic Score of 7.42 out of 10.0.
During the 2025 preseason, Lachey caught five of six targets for 21 yards while playing 99 snaps on offense and 24 on special teams. Of his 99 snaps, 43 came as a run blocker inline.
Brennen Rupp had Lachey as his No. 97 player on his 100 player “Unpacking Future Packers” draft countdown series in 2025.
Here are some scouting reports on Lachey from the top draft experts:
Dane Brugler, The Athletic
“A two-year starter at Iowa, Lachey was a Y tight end in offensive coordinator Tim Lester’s pro-style scheme (63.8 percent of snaps inline; 29.4 percent in the slot). The top-ranked recruit in the Hawkeyes’ 2020 class, he is next up in the Iowa-to-NFL pipeline, despite below-average college production caused by injuries and a listless passing offense (only one red zone catch and zero touchdowns over his final two seasons). Strictly an underneath target in 2024, Lachey is an average speed player and more smooth than explosive, but he efficiently transfers his momentum in and out of breaks to give his quarterback a target on stick routes. Bigger defenders will give him trouble inline in the run game, but he is at his best when he can latch and drive on the move. Overall, Lachey doesn’t have any dynamic elements in his game, but he catches the ball cleanly and is willing to do the dirty work in the run game. His competitive wiring will help him compete for a backup role in the NFL.”
Lance Zierlein, NFL.com
“Combination tight end capable of lining up in-line or as a move tight end. While Lachey can do both, he lacks the core strength and consistency of a typical “Y” tight end and has average quickness to escape man coverage on the next level. He has experience operating underneath and as an intermediate target, using proper leverage in his routes and good body control, along with strong hands, when contested. He has NFL size but needs to prove he can more consistently sustain as a run blocker in order to become a trustworthy, three-down player in the league. Unless that happens, he’s likely to be fighting for a role as a TE3 or TE4.”
Steve Muench, ESPN
“Lachey suffered a season-ending ankle injury in the third game of the 2023 season and didn’t put up big numbers in Iowa’s run-heavy offense in 2024. He averaged 14.2 yards per catch in 2022, though, and has some upside. He is fast enough to make plays down the seam and stays focused on the ball when there’s a chance he takes a big hit. Lachey is strong, fights to stay on his feet and drags defenders for yards after the catch. He is a big target who sits in pockets and boxes out defenders working against zone looks. He stays square, works his hands inside and fights to sustain as a blocker.”
Dalton Miller, PFSN
“Lachey never materialized the way many believed he would after a strong sophomore campaign for the Hawkeyes. After splashing with 382 receiving yards in 2022, he only managed 362 over his next two seasons. It looked like 2023 would be his ascension, amassing 15 targets over the Hawkeyes’ first two games. Unfortunately, he lost his season against Western Michigan in Week 3 due to an ankle injury. His final collegiate campaign saw him take a back seat in the passing game while tight ends around the country put on Taylor Swift-level world tour shows. The Columbus, Ohio native is the son of former Buckeye and decade-long NFL veteran Jim Lachey. However, Luke’s recruitment took him to Iowa as a three-star. Although lacking production, Lachey plays a position that’s far from reliant on collegiate production to survive or even thrive at the NFL level. Many college offenses fail to feature the position in the passing game properly, and there’s a strong correlation between success at the NFL level and overall athletic profile (like RAS.) Lachey has ‘the juice’ to be a starter at the NFL level. He’ll need to develop his core strength a bit if he wants to be a difference-making in-line blocker as a TE2 early in his career. However, his length and smooth acceleration off the line should serve him well as a seam stretcher. He’s also a fluid and technical route runner when he’s working against air. He must improve his hands to keep him from consistently getting tangled by defenders along the stem, and Lachey could also stand to use his frame way more to shield and shove (legally) at the top of routes and along route stems to gain separation. Lachey is a perfect Day 3 draft swing on an athletic tight end who should be able to contribute on special teams, although that’s not something he did at Iowa.”
Highlights
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: What draft experts said about new Packers TE Luke Lachey
Reporting by Zach Kruse, Packers Wire / Packers Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Zach Kruse, Packers Wire | USA TODAY Network
