The Green Bay Packers enter 2025 without a true, bona fide No. 1 wide receiver, but also with plenty of mouths to feed in the passing game. The sheer quantity in their WR room has led to much speculation about who will emerge as the top threat in the passing game.<\/p>\n
Is it possible that the answer to that question isn\u2019t a wide receiver at all, but rather tight end Tucker Kraft<\/a>?<\/p>\n Kraft is an ascending star entering his third season in the league. Last year, he led the team in receiving touchdowns with seven and was second on the team in receiving yards with 707. Even with a wildly productive year, it felt like Kraft still had more to offer in the passing game.<\/p>\n At the end of the season, head coach Matt LaFleur said, \u201cI think that\u2019s on us to find him and feature him. When he gets the ball in his hands, you feel him. If there\u2019s an area we have to do a better job on, it\u2019s feature the tight end.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s one thing to note needing to utilize Kraft even more. It\u2019s another thing to talk about featuring him.<\/p>\n Green Bay could start by using Kraft more down the field. Kraft\u2019s average depth of target last season was 4.7 yards. Of 45 qualified tight ends in the NFL, he ranked 42nd. It should come as no surprise that Kraft \u2014 who\u2019s often referred to as a YAC monster \u2014 led the league in yards after the catch.<\/p>\n What\u2019s especially exciting about Kraft is that it\u2019s clear there are many more layers to his game, specifically in the passing game, that have yet to be uncovered. Kraft\u2019s ceiling is a George Kittle<\/a>-like presence. Those expectations are lofty, but Kraft has all the makings of a player that good.<\/p>\n For reference, in his age-31 season in 2024, Kittle led the San Francisco 49ers in receptions (78), receiving yards (1,106), and receiving touchdowns (eight). That wasn\u2019t an outlier. It was Kittle\u2019s fourth season in his eight-year career where he eclipsed 1,000 yards receiving. The 78 receptions marked a season high for the Niners, but it was just the third-best total in Kittle\u2019s career.<\/p>\n LaFleur said last Thursday<\/a> that Kraft is just getting started.<\/p>\n Absolutely, I think he\u2019s just scratching the surface of what he\u2019s going to become. Certainly we have to do a good job of giving him opportunities. He\u2019s been able to show some of the things and he\u2019s really grown as a complete football player, but specifically in the passing game.<\/p>\n When looking around the landscape, it becomes even clearer that Kraft could become Jordan Love<\/a>\u2018s go-to guy in the passing game.<\/p>\n Christian Watson<\/a> will miss time<\/a> to start the year. While Romeo Doubs<\/a> has proven to be super reliable, his ceiling isn\u2019t that of a superstar, No. 1 target.\u00a0Jayden Reed<\/a> and Dontayvion Wicks<\/a>\u00a0struggled with consistency in 2024 and were both top five in the league in drops.\u00a0Matthew Golden<\/a> has all the potential in the world to be the guy, but he\u2019s only a rookie. Savion Williams<\/a> is also just a rookie.<\/p>\n It all circles back to Kraft, who has displayed all the consistency required, so much so that Green Bay\u2019s primary concern is how they can get the ball to him even more.<\/p>\n Kraft has been as durable as they come, playing in all 17 regular-season games his first two years. After a season in which he had 707 yards and seven touchdowns, the buzz isn\u2019t about how good his 2024 was, but rather how much better he can be if he\u2019s even more involved in the offense.<\/p>\n