GREEN BAY \u2014 Even in the short time Micah Parsons has been a member of the Green Bay Packers, we\u2019ve learned one important thing about him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He takes his fantasy football almost as seriously as the real-life version he plays.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t believe it? Parsons is in an IDP league \u2014 wherein contestants select individual defensive players (which is where the abbreviation comes from) \u2014 and was bragging after the season-opening win over the Detroit Lions that his new teammate, Packers second-year linebacker Edgerrin Cooper, is on his team and scored 36 points for him in that win.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately for the ultra-competitive Parsons, he doesn\u2019t have Packers tight end Tucker Kraft in his lineup. If he did, Kraft\u2019s performance in Thursday night\u2019s win over the Washington Commanders \u2014 six receptions for a career-best 124 yards, his first 100-yard game in the NFL, and a touchdown \u2014 would have been as helpful to success this week as Cooper had been in Week 1.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a great player, the strides I\u2019ve seen, I\u2019m over here pissed I ain\u2019t take him in fantasy,\u201d Parsons confessed after watching Kraft in the Packers\u2019 27-18 win. \u201cThat\u2019s the type of [expletive] I\u2019m talking about. But he\u2019s playing terrific, bro. I think he\u2019s bound to have a breakout year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Parsons isn\u2019t the only one who holds that opinion.<\/p>\n
Quarterback Jordan Love felt the same way, and that was before hitting Kraft for a 57-yard catch-and-run to set up the Packers\u2019 first touchdown against the Commanders and then hitting him for an 8-yard TD pass to put the game away after Washington pulled to within 17-10 in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m expecting big things from Tuck this year,\u201d Love said. \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s a secret for him to go out there and ball like he does. [His] first time having 100 yards is pretty cool for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s something we\u2019ve just got to keep building on with him. But Tuck\u2019s a guy that\u2019s going to have a big year.\u201d<\/p>\n
And then there are running back Josh Jacobs and safety Xavier McKinney, both of whom noticed Kraft shortly after their free-agent arrivals last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a really good tight end. I think he\u2019s one of the best that we have in this league,\u201d McKinney said. \u201c[Thursday night\u2019s] game pretty much showed it. But he does this to me every game \u2014 he\u2019s a guy that he can go out there and he can play as a receiver. He blocks his ass off.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s really nothing that he doesn\u2019t really do. He does everything well. He\u2019s an all-around tight end.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jacobs, meanwhile, pointed to the way Kraft spent the entire offseason in Green Bay, working out at the team\u2019s Lambeau Field facility \u2014 at least when he wasn\u2019t playing pickleball with fellow tight end Luke Musgrave \u2014 and focusing on becoming more of a leader as a third-year player.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, I\u2019ve been screaming his name since last year, man,\u201d Jacobs said of Kraft who, like Jacobs, was voted to be one of the Packers\u2019 seven captains for this season by his teammates. \u201cThe way that he comes in and he works his butt off and really how he\u2019s stepped up this year as a leader, I think, is special.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that he’s getting everything that he put in and I’m happy for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heading into Monday night\u2019s two games, Kraft has eight receptions for 140 yards and two touchdowns. Indianapolis\u2019 Tyler Warren (11 catches for 155 yards and no TDs) he only tight end with more catches and yardage; Arizona\u2019s Trey McBride (12 catches, 139 yards, no TDs) and Washington\u2019s Zach Ertz (nine catches for 90 yards and two TDs) also have more receptions than Kraft.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, he\u2019s a guy that approaches the game the right way,\u201d Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said. \u201cI can\u2019t say enough great things about Tuck and just the growth that we\u2019ve seen from him from the time he\u2019s gotten here.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it\u2019s not only on the football field, it\u2019s every facet of life, I would say. And he\u2019s a real leader for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
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