GREEN BAY — Rewind to a year ago at this time, and it wasn’t unreasonable to wonder if the Green Bay Packers had any clue what they were doing at tight end — one of the most critical positions in coach Matt LaFleur’s offense.
Having let Marcedes Lewis and Robert Tonyan leave via free agency, having converted 2020 third-round pick Josiah Deguara (now with the Jacksonville Jaguars) to fullback, and having missed badly on departed 2021 third-round pick Jace Sternberger, even Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst had to use words like “holes” and “unknown” when talking about the position.
While the Packers brought three of the top prospects at the position in for top-30 pre-draft visits to their Lambeau Field headquarters — Notre Dame’s Michael Mayer, Utah’s Dalton Kincaid and Georgia’s Darnell Washington — they didn’t pick any of them.
Instead, they took Oregon State’s Luke Musgrave in the second round and South Dakota State’s Tucker Kraft in the third round.
And based on early returns, Gutekunst took a dynamic duo that could be the club’s best tight end combo since Mark Chmura and Keith Jackson were helping the 1996 Packers to the Super Bowl XXXI championship.
“I think those guys are very well-rounded tight ends that can do everything that we’re asking,” Gutekunst said of Musgrave and Kraft earlier this offseason. “I think since Matt’s been (coach), the tight end position has been extremely important to what we do, not only in the pass game, but in the run game. So, having tight ends that can function in both, particularly in the blocking phases, is really, really important.
“I think both those guys proved in their initial years — and there’s so much room and growth for those guys to get better — that they can do everything. We’re just really excited about where those guys are going. The confidence and the level that both those guys are at now, it’s going to be really fun to see those guys on the field at the same time.”
Before suffering a lacerated kidney that forced him to miss six games late in the year, Musgrave had 33 receptions for 341 yards and a touchdown, putting him on pace for 56 receptions for 580 yards over a 17-game season.
Kraft then emerged after Musgrave was sidelined, catching 33 passes for 368 yards and three touchdowns (including playoffs) after Musgrave’s injury.
Together, they combined for 76 receptions for 797 yards and five touchdowns including the postseason, leaving offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich anxiously awaiting a full season of the two together.
“Once we get those two on the field together, we’ll have something pretty cool,” Stenavich said late in the season. “We kind of just kept giving (Kraft) a little bit more, a little bit more, a little bit more every week, and then all of a sudden, bang! Luke went down, and now (it was), ‘You’re the man, let’s see how you react.’ And he responded very well.”
Packers tight end depth chart
No.
Name
Height
Weight
Age
Experience
College
88
Luke Musgrave
6-foot-6
253 pounds
23
2 years
Oregon State
85
Tucker Kraft
6-5
259
23
2
South Dakota State
89
Ben Sims
6-5
250
23
2
Baylor
84
Tyler Davis
6-4
252
27
5
Georgia Tech
82
Joel Wilson
6-4
242
23
1
Central Michigan
Best in class
Brock Bowers, Georgia
While this year’s tight end class isn’t nearly as strong as last year’s, the 6-foot-3, 243-pound Bowers is expected to be the lone tight end to go in the first round. He was ultra-productive for the Bulldogs, catching 175 passes for 2,538 yards with 26 touchdowns in three seasons.
Speaking at the NFL scouting combine in February, Bowers said he’s excited about the way the NFL game is evolving to make the tight end position more vital.
“Definitely, tight end is a prime position to be in right now (in the NFL),” Bowers said, adding that his favorite pros to watch have been Rob Gronkowski, Travis Kelce and George Kittle. “I’m just glad it’s now. It’s exciting to see those young guys (at tight end) balling out. My rookie year’s coming up and I’d like to do the same thing.”
Best of the rest
Ja’Tavion Sanders, Texas; Theo Johnson, Penn State; Jared Wiley, TCU; Cade Stover, Ohio State; Ben Sinnot, Kansas State.
Pick to click
Erick All, Iowa
After a star-crossed college career that saw him spend four seasons at Michigan (which ended with spinal surgery that cost him the final 11 games of the 2022 season) and one year at Iowa (which ended after seven games with a torn ACL in his right knee), All is hoping that his fortunes will change in the NFL.
“It’s been two years, two long years,” said All, whose best college season was 2021, when he caught 38 passes for 437 yards and four touchdowns for the Wolverines. “I’m ready to just get out there and play some football.”
History lesson
For as much as is made of the Packers not spending their first-round picks on wide receivers, they haven’t used their top selections on tight ends, either. In fact, it’s actually been longer since they used a first-rounder on a tight end (Miami’s Bubba Franks with the 14th overall pick in 2000) than it’s been since they took a first-round wide receiver (Florida State’s Javon Walker with the 20th overall pick in 2002).
Over the past 15 drafts, the team has gotten mixed results from its tight end picks. Although his career was cut short by a neck injury, 2008 third-round pick Jermichael Finley was on a positive trajectory and was one of the NFL’s biggest matchup nightmares for a time.
After that, though, Ted Thompson’s and Gutekunst’s next eight picks at the position yielded little return: Penn State’s Andrew Quarless (fifth round, 2010); Arkansas D.J. Williams (fifth round, 2011); North Carolina’s Ryan Taylor (seventh round, 2011); California’s Richard Rodgers (third round, 2014); UAB’s Kennard Backman (sixth round, 2015); Sternberger (third round, 2019); and Deguara (third round, 2020).
Musgrave and Kraft appear to have snapped that streak of mediocrity.
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