While losing to the Carolina Panthers was not in the cards for the Green Bay Packers, things got worse as the team lost both Tucker Kraft and Matthew Golden to injuries in the game.
Golden left the game after injuring his shoulder, while Kraft left after injuring his knee. The two players join Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks as injured pass catchers for the Packers.
Given the severity of the knee injury from Kraft, the Packers are going to need to find a replacement for him quickly to keep this offense intact.
“(Kraft) means a lot. I think his leadership role and then obviously his play on the field,” said Packers quarterback Jordan Love, on Kraft’s impact on the team. “Not having him out there for this game was huge. It is one of those situations, though, where it is the next man up. We have got to find ways to keep playing at a high level without him out there.”
When Love talks about the next man up, the player who sticks out to fill Kraft’s shoes is tight end Luke Musgrave. Musgrave was drafted in the second round in 2023, one round ahead of Kraft, but injuries and inconsistent play have affected his ability to carve out a solid role in the Packers’ offense.
Now that he is healthy, Musgrave steps into that starting tight end role. While Kraft is obviously the leader in that room, Musgrave is not a typical backup. He has a strong combination of receiving and blocking ability with a mentality of picking up yards after the catch, similar to Kraft.
“I am very comfortable with (Musgrave),” said Love. “I think (Musgrave) has had his fair share of opportunities. He has played a lot of ball, and he made some big plays today. So I think it is just to keep building on that. I think obviously we will get more opportunities, and he’s just got to keep maximizing those opportunities, but (Musgrave) has played a lot of ball, and I have a lot of confidence in him.”
While Golden’s injury seems less severe than Kraft’s, the Packers are already without Reed and have seen Christian Watson and Wicks both miss significant time this season. That leaves Malik Heath as the next player to step to fill that true receiving role.
On the season, Heath has recorded six catches for 86 yards. While those numbers don’t jump off the page, what may give fans some comfort regarding the receiver is that he has time in this Packers’ system. Heath is now in his third year with the team and has been put into situations in the past where he needed to see the field due to injuries to Watson.
Looking at the pass catchers for Green Bay as a whole right now, Romeo Doubs, Watson, Heath, Savion Williams, Musgrave and John FitzPatrick are the five healthy players. That does not leave a lot of room for flexibility if one of those players were to go down with injury.
That leaves the team in a spot where it probably has to get another player on the roster. Bo Melton is an obvious choice, as he has had ample time on the offensive side of the ball for Green Bay in his career but shifted to the defensive side this season.
While Green Bay does not typically sign a household name to the active roster off waivers, names like Mecole Hardman, who was with Green Bay during training camp, Grant DuBose, whom Green Bay drafted in 2023, and Equanimeous St. Brown are all players who have some familiarity with the Packers.
It makes sense to promote from within when an injury arises, because the players who are already on the team have an advantage of knowing the state of the team and have the connection with Love. But at only five solid pass catchers in the offense, picking up a receiver or tight end as a free agent does not seem out of the realm of possibilities.
