a lot of time together this offseason on the pickleball court<\/a>.<\/p>\nNow, the Green Bay Packers tight end duo is hoping they\u2019ll spent even more time together on the football field \u2014 especially after not managing to do so during their first two seasons.<\/p>\n
After being taken in back-to-back rounds of the 2023 NFL Draft \u2014 Musgrave in the second round, Kraft in the third \u2014 the football gods seemingly have conspired to keep them from playing simultaneously.<\/p>\n
At least so far.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole key is we have to keep [Musgrave] on the field and keep him healthy,\u201d head coach Matt LaFleur said during the offseason. \u201cAnd unfortunately, he’s had a couple, I would say, freak plays that have limited his ability.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
LaFleur and the tight ends have had that hope before, of course. And it hasn\u2019t materialized.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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 \u2014 after catching 34 passes for 352 yards and one TD as a rookie, despite the kidney injury.<\/p>\n
Kraft, meanwhile, had\u00a050 receptions for 707 yards and a team-best seven touchdowns\u00a0and established himself as one of the league\u2019s up-and-coming tight ends.<\/p>\n
\u201cTuck\u2019s going to be a big part of the offense,\u201d quarterback Jordan Love said. \u201cI think Tuck, since he\u2019s stepped on the scene, has shown who he is a playmaker and shown us reasons why we should just keep getting him the ball.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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\u2019s a dynamic playmaker and does some really good things once he gets it in his hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
And if anyone was concerned that success might go to Kraft\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was a discussion that I had with the coaches,\u201d Kraft replied when asked what the next step is for him. \u201cOne thing I feel like I could’ve done better is separate in man-to-man.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost 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\u2019ve just got a much better feel of the game this offseason.\u201d<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a closer look at the tight ends as the Packers prepare for training camp, which kicks off with its first practice on July 23:<\/p>\n
Depth chart\u00a0<\/p>\n
No.<\/p>\n
Name<\/p>\n
Ht.<\/p>\n
Wt.<\/p>\n
Age<\/p>\n
Exp.<\/p>\n
College<\/p>\n
85<\/p>\n
Tucker Kraft<\/p>\n
6-5<\/p>\n
259<\/p>\n
24<\/p>\n
3<\/p>\n
South Dakota State<\/p>\n
88<\/p>\n
Luke Musgrave<\/p>\n
6-6<\/p>\n
253<\/p>\n
24<\/p>\n
3<\/p>\n
Oregon State<\/p>\n
89<\/p>\n
Ben Sims<\/p>\n
6-5<\/p>\n
250<\/p>\n
25<\/p>\n
3<\/p>\n
Baylor<\/p>\n
86<\/p>\n
John FitzPatrick<\/p>\n
6-7<\/p>\n
262<\/p>\n
25<\/p>\n
4<\/p>\n
Georgia<\/p>\n
48<\/p>\n
Messiah Swinson<\/p>\n
6-7<\/p>\n
259<\/p>\n
25<\/p>\n
1<\/p>\n
Arizona State<\/p>\n
43<\/p>\n
Johnny Lumpkin<\/p>\n
6-5<\/p>\n
264<\/p>\n
27<\/p>\n
1<\/p>\n
Louisiana-Lafayette<\/p>\n
Burning Question |\u00a0Will the Packers run more two-tight end sets than in past seasons?<\/p>\n
Coaches love to talk about the proverbial \u201cgood problem to have,\u201d but the challenge for LaFleur and his offensive staff is to use the tight ends as much as they\u2019d like while also getting their bevy of wide receivers ample opportunities in the passing game, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cGoing into our two-tight end packages with Luke this year, we’re going to have to find ways to spread that wealth around,\u201d Kraft said in spring. \u201cBecause the tight end room, we’re going to be relied on heavily this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the rise |\u00a0Kraft.<\/p>\n
We already know how good Kraft is and how good he potentially could become. But the area he\u2019s shown the most growth over the last several months has been in terms of his leadership.<\/p>\n
For example: While saying he \u201ccalled out\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a part of a large offensive draft class and a lot of us are still here,\u201d Kraft said. \u201cI would say taking that next step forward would be us really cleaning up a lot of the mistakes that we saw last year \u2014 just full-on accountability moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Player to watch |\u00a0Sims.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
While he didn\u2019t have the draft status the other two did \u2014 Sims went undrafted out of Baylor \u2014 and signed as a free agent with the Vikings after the draft despite taking a pre-draft visit to Green Bay, he\u2019s flashed at times as something more than just an in-line blocker and could prove even more valuable if Musgrave\u2019s injury luck doesn\u2019t change for the better.<\/p>\n
Key competition |\u00a0Sims vs. FitzPatrick.<\/p>\n
While obviously the hope is for Kraft and Musgrave to handle the lion\u2019s 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\u2019s injury history and Kraft\u2019s workload \u2014 he played a whopping 925 offensive snaps last year (85.3%) \u2014 the No. 3 tight end spot isn\u2019t some no-show job on this team.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes you don\u2019t get as many reps as say Tuck does during the week. And so the mental part and the preparation part is just critical,\u201d tight ends coach John Dunn said. \u201cSo the thing that those guys [is], they\u2019re pros. They study like they\u2019re playing every play, they go about their business the right way. Obviously they have talent. They\u2019re doing everything we\u2019re asking them to do. I love those guys. Love the way they work, love the way they fit in the room, and it\u2019s shown on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bold prediction |\u00a0Kraft will lead all NFL tight ends in touchdown catches this year.<\/p>\n
The truly top-flight tight ends are game-changers with their red-zone production and reliability when points are at a premium, and that\u2019s another area where Kraft can get even better. Last season, Baltimore\u2019s Mark Andrews (11), San Francisco\u2019s George Kittle (eight) and Miami\u2019s Jonnu Smith (eight) were the only tight ends in the NFL with more TD catches than Kraft.<\/p>\n
\u200bCOPYRIGHT 2025 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fourth in a series. GREEN BAY \u2014 Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave spent a lot of time together…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":210870,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2072],"tags":[7,41,345,2514,2513,6343,3031,122,6,428,14233],"class_list":{"0":"post-210869","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-green-bay-packers","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-green-bay","10":"tag-green-bay-packers","11":"tag-greenbay","12":"tag-greenbaypackers","13":"tag-luke-musgrave","14":"tag-matt-lafleur","15":"tag-national-football-league","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-packers","18":"tag-tucker-kraft"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210869\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}