During the 2023 NFL Draft, the Green Bay Packers needed to add some receiving weapons to surround Jordan Love to make this pass game a consistent part of the offense.
In the second round of the draft, the Packers selected Luke Musgrave out of Oregon State. The team followed that by using its second second-round draft pick on Michigan State wide receiver Jayden Reed. One more pick later in the third round of the draft, the Packers selected tight end Tucker Kraft out of South Dakota State.
While Musgrave and Reed have established themselves as a part of this offense, injuries and inconsistent play have limited their time on the field. The same can’t be said for Kraft, though, as he has quickly established himself as one of the best tight ends in the NFL.
Coming from Timber Lake, South Dakota, a town of about 500 residents, Kraft played running back, linebacker and punter on his high school football team before shifting to tight end at South Dakota State.
While at South Dakota State, Kraft became a superstar for the Jack Rabbits. He was a two-time First-Team All Missouri Valley Conference selection, a two-time Division 1 Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) All-American and a one-time FCS National Champion.
That resume seemed to be more than enough for Brian Gutekunst and his staff to take a shot on the little-known prospect; through 41 games as a pro, it looks like that shot is paying off.
“(Kraft) is a big time player, and everybody has seen what he is capable of when he gets the ball in his hands, just making guys miss, running people over and getting those extra yards,” said Packers quarterback Jordan Love. “You know that any time he touches the ball, he is going to try to fight for all of those yards. He is just an explosive playmaker, so I am just glad that everybody is seeing what he is all about now.”
With a fanbase clamoring that the Packers need to draft or sign a true No. 1 receiver, Kraft is quickly making the case that he can fill that role. Through seven games this season, Kraft has totaled 30 receptions for 469 yards and six touchdowns. He also found a role as the go-to receiver in the red zone, as the Packers have found success in getting the ball to Kraft in the flat and letting him run through defenders, as Love mentioned.
“Any time I get the ball in my hands, all I am thinking about is north and south,” Kraft said. “How can I squeeze every amount of yard out of this play?”
While he is a bowling ball with the ball in his hands, Kraft’s blocking, both in the run and pass game, have helped Josh Jacobs and Emanuel Wilson succeed and kept Love upright for a majority of the season.
As has been the case in Green Bay over the better part of the last three decades, the team is able to find offensive weapons after the first round of the NFL Draft.
Greg Jennings, Davante Adams, Randall Cobb and Jordy Nelson were all second-round picks, Donald Driver was a seventh-round pick, and Romeo Doubs was a fourth-round pick. It certainly looks like Kraft has now joined that group of top Packers playmakers who aren’t highly touted.
Given Matt LaFleur’s run-first offensive scheme, there is almost always going to be a need for a physical tight end who is just as good at run blocking as he is at running with the ball in his hands. Kraft has become the player to fill that role.
In this Packers offense, Kraft is as good of a weapon as Jacobs, and both players are going to need to be relied on heavily as Green Bay looks to make another deep run in the playoffs.
From a hometown of 500 people, to a city of 24,500 people in college, to a city of 106,000 people in the NFL, Kraft has always been the small-town, hardworking, gritty player — something that fits not only with LaFleur’s offensive scheme, but with the city of Green Bay as a whole.
