Fourth in a series.

GREEN BAY — Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave spent a lot of time together this offseason on the pickleball court.

Now, the Green Bay Packers tight end duo is hoping they’ll spent even more time together on the football field — especially after not managing to do so during their first two seasons.

After being taken in back-to-back rounds of the 2023 NFL Draft — Musgrave in the second round, Kraft in the third — the football gods seemingly have conspired to keep them from playing simultaneously.

At least so far.

“The whole key is we have to keep [Musgrave] on the field and keep him healthy,” head coach Matt LaFleur said during the offseason. “And unfortunately, he’s had a couple, I would say, freak plays that have limited his ability.

“I just think both of those guys are unique in their own ways, and they both bring a little something different. But I’m really excited about both those players in our system.”

LaFleur and the tight ends have had that hope before, of course. And it hasn’t materialized.

During the first half of the 2023 season, Musgrave played extensive snaps while Kraft, making the jump from FCS-level South Dakota State, was brought along slowly. Then, when Musgrave’s season was derailed by a lacerated kidney suffered in a game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Kraft took over as the starter and ran with the opportunity.

And while Kraft became an even greater focal point of the offense last season despite missing most of the offseason and training camp with a torn pectoral muscle, Musgrave played in only seven games because of an ankle injury that required surgery.

He returned for the final three regular-season games and the season-ending playoff loss at Philadelphia, but he caught just seven passes for 45 yards — after catching 34 passes for 352 yards and one TD as a rookie, despite the kidney injury.

Kraft, meanwhile, had 50 receptions for 707 yards and a team-best seven touchdowns and established himself as one of the league’s up-and-coming tight ends.

“Tuck’s going to be a big part of the offense,” quarterback Jordan 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.”

And if anyone was concerned that success might go to Kraft’s head, those worries were unfounded. He spent the offseason poring over film to find the weaknesses in his game that he might not have noticed in the heat of the season.

“That was a discussion that I had with the coaches,” Kraft replied when asked what the next step is for him. “One thing I feel like I could’ve done better is separate in man-to-man.

“Most of my game was check downs underneath and my yards after catch ability, so I’m looking to put it all together. I’m looking to have every resource I need based off the repetitions I’ve gotten over and over and over this offseason. I’ve just got a much better feel of the game this offseason.”

Here’s a closer look at the tight ends as the Packers prepare for training camp, which kicks off with its first practice on July 23:

Depth chart 

No.

Name

Ht.

Wt.

Age

Exp.

College

85

Tucker Kraft

6-5

259

24

3

South Dakota State

88

Luke Musgrave

6-6

253

24

3

Oregon State

89

Ben Sims

6-5

250

25

3

Baylor

86

John FitzPatrick

6-7

262

25

4

Georgia

48

Messiah Swinson

6-7

259

25

1

Arizona State

43

Johnny Lumpkin

6-5

264

27

1

Louisiana-Lafayette

Burning Question | Will the Packers run more two-tight end sets than in past seasons?

Coaches love to talk about the proverbial “good problem to have,” but the challenge for LaFleur and his offensive staff is to use the tight ends as much as they’d like while also getting their bevy of wide receivers ample opportunities in the passing game, too.

“Going into our two-tight end packages with Luke this year, we’re going to have to find ways to spread that wealth around,” Kraft said in spring. “Because the tight end room, we’re going to be relied on heavily this year.”

On the rise | Kraft.

We already know how good Kraft is and how good he potentially could become. But the area he’s shown the most growth over the last several months has been in terms of his leadership.

For example: While saying he “called out” his fellow 2023 draft classmates, he said the quiet part out loud about that class needing to collectively step up in their third NFL seasons.

“I was a part of a large offensive draft class and a lot of us are still here,” Kraft said. “I would say taking that next step forward would be us really cleaning up a lot of the mistakes that we saw last year — just full-on accountability moving forward.”

Player to watch | Sims.

Sims, who was a rookie alongside Kraft and Musgrave two years ago, joined the Packers on waivers after being cut by the Minnesota Vikings at the end of camp in 2023.

While he didn’t have the draft status the other two did — Sims went undrafted out of Baylor — and signed as a free agent with the Vikings after the draft despite taking a pre-draft visit to Green Bay, he’s flashed at times as something more than just an in-line blocker and could prove even more valuable if Musgrave’s injury luck doesn’t change for the better.

Key competition | Sims vs. FitzPatrick.

While obviously the hope is for Kraft and Musgrave to handle the lion’s share of the tight end snaps, both Sims (224 offensive snaps, 20.7%) and FitzPatrick (73, 6.7%) saw meaningful snaps on offense as well. Given Musgrave’s injury history and Kraft’s workload — he played a whopping 925 offensive snaps last year (85.3%) — the No. 3 tight end spot isn’t some no-show job on this team.

“Sometimes you don’t get as many reps as say Tuck does during the week. And so the mental part and the preparation part is just critical,” tight ends coach John Dunn said. “So the thing that those guys [is], they’re pros. They study like they’re playing every play, they go about their business the right way. Obviously they have talent. They’re doing everything we’re asking them to do. I love those guys. Love the way they work, love the way they fit in the room, and it’s shown on the field.”

Bold prediction | Kraft will lead all NFL tight ends in touchdown catches this year.

The truly top-flight tight ends are game-changers with their red-zone production and reliability when points are at a premium, and that’s another area where Kraft can get even better. Last season, Baltimore’s Mark Andrews (11), San Francisco’s George Kittle (eight) and Miami’s Jonnu Smith (eight) were the only tight ends in the NFL with more TD catches than Kraft.

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