IOWA CITY, Iowa-- Former Hawkeye tight end Luke Lachey is off to his next stop on his NFL journey. The Ohio native has officially been picked up off waivers by the Green Bay Packers. Lachey spent the entirety of his rookie season on the Texans' practice squad after being taken in the seventh round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
He played in all three of their preseason contests prior to the season. He lined up inline, playing 86 snaps alongside the offensive tackle and 12 in the slot as a receiver, catching five passes for 21 yards.
Here's whatNFL.com's Lance Zierleinhad to say about Lachey prior to the NFL Draft.
"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."
Iowa has had a ton of success with the tight end position at the NFL level. George Kittle, TJ Hockenson, Sam LaPorta, Noah Fant, Erick All and others have all had their stays in the league. Houston was a tough landing spot due to the depth that they had in the position group.
Green Bay has Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave as the top-two options in the room, but Lachey has an outside shot to compete for the third spot alongside Messiah Swinson, Drake Dabney and Josh Whyle.
Lachey has the 6-foot-6 251-pound frame that Matt LaFleur loves from his tight ends. During his college career, he recorded 74 receptions for 893 yards and four touchdowns in his 42 games that included 24 starts. Lachey was named a permanent team captain following his senior season and was a constant presence in the locker room.
"Two things about Luke. You know him, so this will resonate. He's just one of the nicest people I've ever met," Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said ahead of Lachey's final season. "He's unbelievably just a nice human being, a really first-class guy."
Lachey's junior season was cut short due to an ankle injury that he suffered in the third game of the season. His mature outlook and knowledge for the game were two driving forces in the impact that he had on the team.
"I think maybe as impressive as anything I saw was the way he handled a very disappointing injury last year," Ferentz added. "He was fully engaged, fully immersed, and did a great job working with the other guys that were playing where he was supposed to be playing. That's as high a compliment, and that's why he's here right now, the team selected him as one of our leaders. It's not even close. He's up there at the top. So he's just a great, quality young guy, and he's all about the team. He's an outstanding football player."
Now, he'll have another opportunity to find his spot in the league.
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