The Packers have said that they weren't targeting a specific position with the 75th pick: they had their board of their best available and they drafted according to how the board fell. So we were not mistaken when we all heard the angels singing when Jace Sternberger was announced as the pick. This was a perfect marriage of best player available and need. While many Packers fans - myself included - were banging on the drum all day for TJ Hockenson and Noah Fant, Brian Gutekunst landed someone who he believes is in the same category those two. While it's unlikely that Sternberger was their #1 tight end on the board, it doesn't seem like a stretch to assume he was their #3. The fact that The Iowa Boys went in round 1 while Sternberger went in round 3 means that the Packers feel like they got tremendous value on this pick.

But what of Sternberger himself?

His college career started with a whimper but ended with a bang. He started his career at notable non-football school Kansas, as part of David Beaty's first recruiting class. After redshirting his first year in 2015, he caught a whopping 1 pass for 5 yards in his second year. Before that goes as a mark against Sternberger, you should know that the entire TE group caught a total of 11 passes in 2016.

After his second season at Kansas, Sternberger transferred to Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, a junior college. He fared better there, bringing in 21 catches for 336 yards and 6 touchdowns. His performance there was good enough to draw some attention, so he transferred to Texas A&M for the 2018 season.

At Texas A&M, Sternberger took off, catching 48 passes for 832 yards (17.3 yards per catch) and 10 touchdowns. Those 10 touchdowns tied Texas A&M's school record for most touchdowns scored by a tight end in a single season. For turning in that season, Sternberger was named first team all-SEC and named first team All-America from the Associated Press, Athlon Sports, CBS Sports, Football Writers Association of America, Sporting News and Sports Illustrated.

In looking at those numbers, it's no surprise that Gutekunst talked about Sternbeger as a "matchup problem" that can "stretch the field." For the Packers, a tight end in that mold has been a type of mythical beast: we have heard that they exist, but we haven't seen much evidence of them existing in Green Bay for a while.

For someone talked about in those terms, one would have expected his 40 yard dash time to be a little better than the 4.75 time he turned in at the combine. The Packers have said they timed him at 4.66, which puts him more in the conversation of a field-stretching tight end. After rolling through his games, he certainly seems to play faster than that 4.75 time.

Which is good, because the main knock on Sternberger's game is his blocking. I have found him to be a willing blocker, if not a particularly good one. He appears to be a hard worker and all of his quotes since being drafted seem to come from a man who feels he has something to prove, so he he will likely work to improve, but he comes into the league as a receiving tight end who can also block now and then if you need him, but maybe don't count on him.

That's not really a big deal now, but it could be next season. The Packers have 4 tight ends who will likely end up on the 2019 roster - Jimmy Graham, Marcedes Lewis, Robert Tonyan and Jace Sternberger - with Lewis being the only legitimate blocking threat on the field. Lewis will be 35 when the season starts and is playing on a one-year contract, while Graham will be 32 and is likely playing his last season in Green Bay. That leaves 2020 with Tonyan and Sternberger; two receiving tight ends. That may not be the end of the world, but Matt LaFleur's offense works best when the offense is a legitimate threat to power run or stretch the field with the passing game from the same look. If they're trotting out a couple receiving-only tight ends, that kills the deception.

Again, it's not a concern now, but it could become a concern, depending on how Sternberger progresses and how the tight end position is addressed. 

For the 2019 season, Sternberger will likely see limited snaps. In the early going, it seems like his immediate impact will be felt in the red zone. With his size and receiving ability, he has a chance to be a monster in the red zone package. Seeing the Packers trot out a package of Davante Adams, Sternberger, Jimmy Graham, Aaron Jones and Marquez Valdes-Scantling should be enough to strike fear into the hearts of opposing defenses. If you really want to get crazy with the red zone package, let's roll out Adams, Sternberger, Lewis, Jones and Dan Vitale. That's a power package that could easily go spread if the defense stacks the box. I am entirely too excited about that package.

I'm notoriously optimistic before a season - hope springs eternal, after all - but I'm pretty high on Sternberger. He doesn't need to come in and be a world-beater right away. He can come in on certain packages and ease into the league. He can refine his already very good route-running. He can work on improving his blocking. That way, when he gets called-up to full-time duty in 2020, he'll be ready.

I've seen some people mentioning Gronk when seeing highlights of Sternberger. What made Gronk special was that he was an elite blocker to go with his elite receiving skills. Gronk was an ultimate mismatch, allowing the Patriots to do any number of different things just by having him on the field. Sternberger is not Gronk. Sternberger will never be Gronk, and that's perfectly fine. I believe Sternberger could become a very good receiving tight end with slightly below-average blocking skills. There's a lot of value in a player like that, especially if he's taken in the third round.

Last but not least - and in no way football related - Sternberger was born in 1997. As it turns out, 1997 was a very good year for music. Let's just roll through a list of some albums that came out in 1997.
Radiohead - OK Computer (one of the best - if not the best - albums ever recorded)
Paul McCartney - Flaming Pie (his post-Anthology album and one of his best solo albums)
The Verve - Urban Hymns (not their best, but there are some ridiculously amazing songs here, even without "Bittersweet Symphony")
Starflyer 59 - Americana (one of my all-time favorite bands beginning their journey away from shoegaze and into rock)
Foo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape (a modern rock classic)
Havalina Rail Co. - Russian Lullabies (dark and sad and lovely; definitely one of those albums that taught me the depths of what music could offer)
Beulah - Handsome Western States (about as perfect a pop album as you're likely to find. A tremendous debut from an underappreciated group)
Modest Mouse - The Lonesome Crowded West (alt-rock weirdness before they hit it big. "Trailer Trash" is still one of the best things they've ever done)
Elliott Smith - Either/Or (quite possibly the best album of his career)
Model Engine - The Lean Years Tradition (raw rock n' roll with tremendous songwriting, born from the ashes of Black Eyed Sceva)
Pedro the Lion - Whole (the EP that kicked off a indie-rock powerhouse that is still chugging along today)
Stavesacre - Absolutes (heavy, dark-tone rock with some of the best drumming you'll ever find)
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F#A# Infinity (worth the price of admission for "Dead Flag Blues" if nothing else)
There are, of course, many many more, but that's just a small sampling. It was a very good year.