Two picks from the Green Bay Packers’ 2023 draft class were highlighted by Pro Football Focus as top breakout candidates at their respective positions entering the 2024 season.
Gordon McGuiness of PFF recently put together his 2024 All-Breakout Team, and tight end Luke Musgrave and defensive lineman Karl Brooks both made the list.
Musgrave and Brooks both showed they can be difference makers. To make the leap as second-year players, the pair will need to go from flashy rookie to consistent producers as sophomores.
Musgrave’s solid rookie season got derailed by a significant kidney injury suffered in early November. He returned late in the season and caught a touchdown pass in the Packers’ upset playoff win over the Dallas Cowboys. Including the postseason, Musgrave caught 40 passes for 418 yards and two scores over 53 targets and 13 games.
McGuiness on Musgrave: “You could make the case here for either second-year Packers tight end. Musgrave dropped just one of the 41 catchable passes thrown his way in 2023 and finished his rookie season with three straight 70.0-plus PFF receiving grades.”
Brooks, a sixth-round pick out of Bowling Green, produced 30 pressures on 309 pass-rushing snaps, including the postseason. He had multiple pressures in 10 games, including five in the Packers’ Thanksgiving win over the Detroit Lions, four in the divisional round loss in San Francisco and three in the Week 18 victory over the Chicago Bears.
McGuiness on Brooks: “If there is a question about Brooks’ play heading into his second NFL season, it’s whether he can be a full-time player or if he is simply more of a pass-rushing specialist. However, with how good he was in that role as a rookie, that may not matter. He had seven games in 2023 with a PFF pass-rushing grade above 70.0.”
Musgrave, a 6-6 tight end with elite speed, is going to be a go-to target in the Packers passing game. Brooks, a quick and skilled interior rusher, should get even more chances to be a disruptor in the new 4-3 base defense.