Get excited about the Packers' young tight ends

The Packers have spent seven top 100 draft picks on tight ends since 2000. Their latest two are probably their best yet.

My love for tight ends is well known, and the arrival of Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft last spring was as close to a dream scenario as I could imagine. Two athletic tight ends with seemingly unlimited growth potential? Fetch me my fainting couch.

But how good are they? And how good could they be? After a year of watching both, I think the answers to those questions are “very” and “extremely,” respectively.

First, both Musgrave and Kraft are already among the best receiving tight ends in recent Packers history. In 11 games last year, Musgrave racked up 352 receiving yards, better than any of the other tight ends the Packers have drafted in the top 100 since 2000. And through 17 games, only Bubba Franks had more receiving yards than Krafts 355; Franks had 408 receiving yards through his first 17 games. You can check out how all the tight ends compare in the chart below.

But secondly, and more importantly, both Musgrave and Kraft chart out ahead of schedule in terms of their development timeline. Last summer, I did some statistical analysis on tight end development, finding that at least by Pro Football Focus grade in three key areas (overall offensive metrics, receiving, and run blocking) most tight ends have their biggest developmental leap from year one to year two.

I explain the full numbers in episode 777 of Blue 58, but here’s the bottom line: Musgrave is ahead of the typical tight end development curve in both overall grade and receiving grade and Kraft is ahead of the typical curve in receiving grade and just below the curve in terms of his overall grade. Both ranked below average in terms of their blocking skills, but that’s right in line with what we expected from them as players, and if either of them ever become even average blockers, it’s a win.

In short, Musgrave and Kraft played better than you’d expect as rookies and figure to take a sizeable leap forward heading into year two, and they’re already putting up some of the best numbers we’ve seen from young Packers tight ends.

Pair that with a set of dynamic receivers and there’s plenty to be excited about heading into 2024.