The learning curve is steep at tight end. Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft might play right away but patience is required.
The Green Bay Packers drafted two dynamic and “all-around” tight ends with Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft. However, recent history at the tight end positions suggests it will be a steep learning curve for the duo as they make the transition from college to the NFL.
In a 2018 article from ESPN’s Jamison Hensley, he wrote that in the prior 15 years (so going back to 2003), only two rookie tight ends surpassed the 600-yard receiving mark. Since then, only Kyle Pitts has been added to that list. In an excerpt from the article, former Ravens tight end Todd Heap was told by a coach of his that only the quarterback should know more about the offense than the tight end. The reality is that most tight ends don’t hit their stride until Year 2 or even 3 in the NFL.
This position comes with many responsibilities, especially in the Matt LaFleur offense, where in addition to the tight end’s role as a pass catcher, different alignments, along with being a willing and capable blocker, are important as well. In short, tight ends have to know route concepts like a receiver and blocking techniques and assignments like an offensive tackle while also being able to execute in those areas as well.
“There’s so many demands on the tight end,” said GM Brian Gutekunst. “They have to know their passing trees and all the things we are doing from that standpoint, and also run blocking and pass blocking. It’s a very demanding position. As you guys have seen how Matt uses multiple tight ends it’s very important to our offense, so I think sometimes that can be scheme related, but to us it’s very, very important.”
With the state of the Packers’ tight end room at the moment, they don’t have the luxury to bring Kraft and Musgrave along slowly, something that we’ve seen Green Bay take advantage of at other position groups over the years. Josiah Deguara, and his 600-plus snaps, is the most experienced player in this position group, while Tyler Davis has primarily been utilized on special teams.
For this reason, adding a veteran tight end to this roster always made sense as he would provide Jordan Love someone to lean on as Musgrave and Kraft inevitably go through ups and downs. However, as we all know, the Packers don’t have much in terms of spending power with their salary cap situation.
Most likely, any addition would be signed to a near-league minimum deal, or Green Bay would again have to utilize void years – pushing more cap charges to 2024 and beyond – to keep the cap hit. The tight end free agent market at this stage is also low on options, although it’s worth noting that Justis Mosqueda of Acme Packing Co. would report that there is some mutual interest in a reunion between the Packers and Marcedes Lewis.
Musgrave will provide the Packers with a vertical presence at the position with the speed he possesses, while Kraft brings YAC ability–two elements that the Green Bay tight end room did not have in 2022. Robert Tonyan was the Packers’ only true pass-catching threat at the position, and he averaged just 8.9 yards per catch. If you take a look around the NFL at many of last season’s playoff teams, a number of them had a playmaking threat at tight end.
These aspects of Musgrave and Kraft’s games leap off the screen, but Gutekunst would call both “all-around” tight ends because of the willingness that each brings as a blocker. Being able to impact both the run and passing games is important for the Matt LaFleur offense as it helps add unpredictability to it, thus keeping defenses guessing and opening up the playbook for him as a play caller.
The potential and big play ability that Musgrave and Kraft bring to the Packers offense is evident, but at a position that has a wide variety of roles to be filled, the last 20 years tells us that the learning curve is steep, and the production may not reflect their skill sets or what either player can truly add to this unit right away.
“I think it just all depends on what you’re asking these guys to do,” said LaFleur after the draft. “I think both these guys are big and can run. Certainly, they’ve got a lot of growth. I think this is one of those positions where there is a little bit of a transition from the college game to the NFL, and some of the things schematically that we are going to ask them to do, not only in the passing game but in the run game. We will see how it evolves over the course of OTAs, our offseason programs, and into training camp.”
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