The emergence of Tucker Kraft was one of the biggest stories to come out of the Green Bay Packers‘ 2024 season. But it wasn’t by accident.

Last offseason, Kraft sustained a torn pectoral muscle while lifting weights. It was an unfortunate setback for a player who had shown promise down the stretch of his rookie season the year before. The injury forced Kraft to miss the start of training camp, but it allowed him to change his mindset to the player he wanted to become.

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“There was one point last offseason after I tore my pec where I kind of decided right then I was going to do everything I could to just be the best tight end in the NFL,” Kraft said. “One step at a time, one day at a time, one play at a time, just every opportunity trying to maximize it and learning from my mistakes and just growing. So, now we’re here, I guess.”

Today, Kraft is one of the best young tight ends in the game. Despite missing precious practice time and not logging a single snap during the preseason, Kraft went on to catch 50 passes for 707 yards and seven touchdowns on just 70 targets, ranking tied for fourth in touchdown catches, seventh in receiving yards, and second in yards per target (10.1) among tight ends.

Kraft’s development after just two NFL seasons has already been impressive. When he entered the league as a third-round pick out of South Dakota State, a steep learning curve was expected for someone coming from Division I-AA.

Early on, Kraft struggled with the physicality of the game, finding it difficult to do what was required of him in the run game while having a very minimal role as a pass catcher. In his first season, he had only two receptions for five yards through the first eight games.

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As the season wore on, Kraft became more comfortable. He improved his blocking, and his role in the offense increased drastically over the final seven games after Lukas Musgrave got hurt. During the stretch, he totaled 312 yards on 26 receptions. Ever since then, Kraft’s arrow has been pointing up.

So, what’s next for the rising tight end coming off a breakout campaign and entering his third season? This year, the Packers have been seeing how much they can load onto Kraft’s plate.

“I feel like I’m just ready to take that next step in my game,” Kraft said. “From this offseason, I’ve seen that the coaches have trusted me to do some things that aren’t necessarily fit to the tight end mold. They’re allowing me to attack the duality of my game, stretching the seam, extending plays from the flat, while also still being a pest in the run game. Helping the tackles leading out on outside zone, playing some fullback.”

Even with a bevy of wide receivers and Musgrave also showing improvement, Kraft will have a substantial role in Green Bay’s offense. Kraft has embraced all of his duties as the team’s do-it-all tight end and wears the added responsibility like a badge of honor.

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“I like where I am in this offense. I feel like I oftentimes am at the point of attack for a lot of our stuff, and I like the way that I’m relied on to keep us in front of the chains,” he said.

With training camp coming to an end with Thursday’s joint practice with the Seattle Seahawks, Jordan Love said he loved seeing both Kraft and Musgrave make big-time plays. That’s great news for the Packers, but scary for the rest of the league.

Kraft is hyper-focused heading into Year 3, and with another training camp under his belt, his skillset and status among the league’s tight ends continue to grow.

This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Packers Tucker Kraft wants to be the NFL’s next best tight end