GREEN BAY — While Matt LaFleur and the Green Bay Packers offensive coaching staff had all kinds of offseason priorities to improve on that side of the ball, one of the items highest on the to-do list was also one of the most obvious.

Get tight end Tucker Kraft the damn ball.

After catching 50 passes for 707 yards and a team-best seven touchdowns on 70 targets last season, Kraft has already established himself as one of the NFL’s top up-and-coming tight ends.

The Packers quarterbacks had a 131.1 passer rating when targeting him, and while he did drop five passes, he also had a whopping 456 yards after contact, a testament to both his ability to run would-be tacklers over but also to his surprising elusiveness at 6-foot-5 and 259 pounds.

On top of all that, the Packers conjured up short-yardage plays on which Kraft would motion into the backfield and line up under center to take the snap for quarterback — er, tight end — sneaks. He converted first downs on all five attempts he had.

And still, LaFleur, offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich and tight ends coach John Dunn all believe there are still other avenues to get Kraft even more involved.

“There’s a lot of different ways,” Dunn said during the offseason program, pointing out how Kraft can get the ball “down the field” on seam routes, over the middle on “intermediate” routes and even behind the line of scrimmage—not including screen passes or his short-yardage dives.

“There’s [still] quite a few different ways that you can do it. Obviously, you can be as creative as can be. And the great thing about Tuck is he’ll do whatever you ask him. That’s the cool part. It’s really limitless in terms of where you line up and how you can get the football. Obviously, that’s our job to put him in those spots.”

It’s also the coaches’ job to figure out how to expand Kraft’s role while also making sure running back Josh Jacobs gets his carries and the overcrowded wide receiver room is also getting involved at a high rate.

Still, even quarterback Jordan Love emphasized how vital Kraft’s involvement is to the offense’s potential success.

“Tuck’s going to be a big part of the offense,” Love said. “I think Tuck, since he’s stepped on the scene, has shown who he is a playmaker and shown us reasons why we should just keep getting him the ball.

“I think a big part of going into this season is going to be finding ways to continue to get Tuck the ball, get him as many touches as we can in the game because he’s a dynamic playmaker and does some really good things once he gets it in his hands.

“That’s going to be a focus going into the season, is trying to make sure we can get him as many touches as possible each week.”

If there is one impediment to that, it’s the fact that Kraft is also the team’s best, most consistent blocker in the run game, and he’s also adept at helping in pass protection before going out on his routes.

Because of his skill as a blocker, it’s difficult for the coaches to give up that security blanket and just let him run wild in pass patterns. Which is what makes getting Kraft more involved a little trickier than one might think.

“That’s one thing we spent some time on this offseason, just kind of where we can get him to take the next step,” Stenavich said. “[With] his route-running ability, getting him on more individual things like that, and just kind of growing him there.

“I think he did a really good job in the run game. That’s one thing that hopefully he can keep improving there to be a dominant player up front, [while] just trying to find different ways to give him the ball. That’s going to be the big thing for us.”

About our “Most Important Packers of 2025” Series:  When the Packers kick off their seventh training camp under head coach Matt LaFleur on July 23, they’ll do so with a host of players facing pivotal seasons. LaFleur clearly believes he has ample talent to be a Super Bowl contender — even if he didn’t want to say so as the offseason program came to a close — but turning that belief into reality will require many of those players to produce at higher levels than they have in the past. This series, which began in 2010 on ESPNWisconsin.com, examines each of those players and how the team’s success hinges on their contributions. The list is compiled with input from team observers, former players and NFL sources.

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