GREEN BAY – The Packers have a new tight end on their 53-man roster.
Josh Whyle has been promoted from the practice squad to fill Tucker Kraft's spot on the 53-man roster after Kraft was placed on injured reserve due to the season-ending knee injury he sustained Sunday against Carolina.
A 6-foot-7, 248-pound tight end, Whyle caught 37 passes for 342 yards (9.2 avg.) and two touchdowns in 28 regular-season games over two seasons with the Tennessee Titans.
Here are five things to know about the third-year veteran:
- Whyle was draft classmates with Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave.
Whyle was the first tight end to come off the board on Day 3 of the 2023 NFL Draft when the Titans selected him in the fifth round (No. 147 overall).
He was the 10th tight end selected in what's considered one of the deeper tight end draft classes in the modern era. The Packers double-dipped on Day 2 when they selected Musgrave in the second round (No. 42) and Kraft in the third (78).
Green Bay hosted Whyle on a pre-draft visit. He had 8.94 relative-athletic score due in part to his prototypical size and speed (4.69 40 and 1.58 10-yard split) for the position.
- He's a Cincinnati kid who stayed home.
Whyle had offers from more than 30 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision programs before choosing to stay home and play for the Bearcats in 2018.
He was a three-time All-AAC selection who set the Bearcats' school record for most career receiving touchdowns by a tight end with 15 scoring grabs, breaking Brent Celek's mark.
In total, Whyle appeared in 52 games with 20 starts and tallied 88 receptions for 1,062 yards over five seasons at Cincinnati (2018-22). All but two of his catches came in his final three seasons.
Whyle captured All-AAC first-team accolades as a senior in 2022 after catching a career-high 32 passes for 326 yards and three TDs.
He was college teammates with former Packers third-round pick Josiah Deguara and 2025 seventh-round selection John Williams.
- Whyle's best NFL performance came against Green Bay.
He saw action in all 17 regular-season games for Tennessee in 2024 with four starts, the first of which actually came against the Packers last September.
Playing 25 offensive snaps, Whyle caught four passes for a career-high 43 yards in the Titans' 30-14 loss.
Whyle finished his sophomore campaign with 28 catches for 248 yards and a TD over 345 offensive snaps. He also contributed four tackles on special teams.
- Derrick Henry threw him his first NFL touchdown.
Operating out of a Wildcat formation, the four-time All-Pro running back found Whyle open in the back of the end zone for a 2-yard touchdown pass against Cincinnati on Oct. 10, 2023.
It's one of four touchdown passes Henry has thrown in his decorated career and buoyed a 27-3 victory for the Titans over the Bengals.
Coincidentally, Whyle's only other TD catch in the NFL also came against his hometown team – a 13-yarder from Mason Rudolph at the end of a 37-27 loss to Cincinnati last December.
- Whyle enjoyed a decorated prep career.
He attended La Salle High School in Cincinnati and helped lead the program to a 50-8 record with three Ohio High School Athletic Association Division II titles.
Whyle was a four-star recruit by Scout.com after catching 37 passes for 443 yards and three TDs for the Lancers as a senior. As a junior, he caught 40 passes for 546 yards and six touchdowns to lift the school to its third consecutive state title.
