The Packers selected South Dakota State tight end Tucker Kraft with pick 78 in the 2023 NFL Draft. Here’s what the experts said about Kraft during the pre-draft process. 

Strengths

Dane Brugler, The Athletic — Looks the part of an NFL tight end with adequate length ... impressive agility and fluidity for his size, with the ability to drop his hips and move laterally to shake defenders ... quickly enters his routes with the speed to win vertical seams ... adjusts to the football naturally with reliable hands ... quick pluck-and-transition skills without slowing his stride ... effective in the quick game ... frequently tramples defensive backs and breaks the first tackle attempt with his contact balance ... above-average strength in the weight room and on the field (broke the South Dakota State power-clean record) ... fits his blocks and drives his feet to

widen the edge or torpedo his target as a lead blocker ... confident competitor with accountable character (my “BS meter” didn’t go off when talking to him) ...outstanding toughness and came back sooner than expected from his 2022 ankle injury.

Lance Zerlein, NFL.com — Thick frame with plus athleticism. Faster than he looks when opening his stride. Dexterity to rescue throws behind him. Absorbs contact and maintains focus through the catch. Transitions quickly from catch to run on short stop routes. Puts in the effort to sustain and drive the block. Easy adjustments in space to collect move blocks. Expects to put extra yardage in the books after the catch.

Brentley Weissman, Draft Network — Size and strength. Athleticism/receiving upside. Versatility

Ian Cummings, Pro Football Network — At his size, Kraft is a smooth athlete with easy accelerative capacity in space. He flashes great foot speed and urgency as an accelerator, with the explosiveness to quickly enter space and threaten up seams. In space, Kraft has good long speed — enough to be a threat stretching the field horizontally and turning ahead for RAC yards. While he’s more of a vertical mover than a lateral one, Kraft has good lateral mobility as well. He flashes great lateral agility and hip freedom in smaller areas, with the lateral freedom and foot speed to quickly swivel around on short comebacks. Going further, Kraft flashes the ability to one-cut in space and redirect around blockers to maximize RAC opportunities. Of course, athleticism is only half the equation for tight ends. One of the most important traits, for a player expected to invite contact and physicality, is the ability to convert at the catch point and in contested situations. Though he can improve a bit here on the technical side, Kraft absolutely has the traits to deliver.

NFL Draft Buzz — Kraft has soft hands and uses his frame effectively to shield defenders, making him a major threat in the red zone. He can also turn upfield and break a tackle.

Excellent as both a run and pass blocker. Is a mauler in the run game and maintains a powerful wide base while in limited action as a pass blocker Has developed into a good athlete. Looked impressive at the combine where most of his measurables were in top 75th percentile

He’s broad-shouldered, long-limbed and a smooth athlete who showed the ability to make plays downfield. Super versatile player - can line up inline, outside, and in the slot Very productive player - who until an injury in 2022 was a consistent major factor on offense Has much overall quickness than his time speed would suggest. Kraft has an enormous catch radius and shows the ability to get low to dig out passes. Good effort at the point of attack and second level as a blocker. Intelligent and will quickly acclimate to an NFL offense. Good strength and effort to run through arm tackles.

Greg Cosell, The 33rd Team — Good sized TE with plus athleticism and movement who can open his stride to create big plays in passing game. Highly versatile RE: formation alignment; snaps at boundary x on back side of trips and offset in the backfield. Won at boundary x running vertical routes; Made tough contested catches with body control and strong hands. Excellent off-the-ball quickness into routes from attached TE alignment. Generated stride length quickly.

Tough and competitive run-after-catch. There’s a physical feel and presence to his movement, got tough yards. Can effectively work all three levels of the defense, be a seam-stretcher from attached and flexed alignments. Consistently showed good hands catching away from his frame. Caught through contact, maintaining focus. Extensive experience executing multiple blocks in the run game both at the first and second levels. Showed balance and body control as base run blocker on the outside. High-level effort to sustain and drive. Willing to block on the perimeter when the play started away from him. Highly competitive with commitment. Outstanding playing personality. High effort and high energy player, showed up consistently as a blocker.

Bleacher Report — Very good acceleration and top speed. Smooth yet explosive short-area movement. Great change of direction and mobility. Great YAC presence. Has the speed, flexibility and strength to defeat all kinds of tackle attempts. Alignment flexibility. Can align as an outside WR, slot WR, in-line TE and wing TE. Great blocker. Plays with great strength and short-area movement.

Weaknesses

Dane Brugler, The Athletic — A work in progress as a route runner ... must show better rhythm on timing patterns ... occasionally rounds the top of his routes and needs to develop

better savvy with his footwork to deceive coverage ... too confident in his contested-catch abilities and needs to continue working to open space ... guilty of running before he secures the football, leading to drops ... wasn’t asked to match up with defensive ends on the edge in pass protection, but he has the base strength to hold up ... missed a chunk of his final season because of a right ankle injury suffered in the opener vs. Iowa (September 2022), which required a tightrope procedure (MRI showed sprains in “hard-to-reach places”); suffered a ligament strain in his left knee vs. UNI (February 2021) and missed three games.

Lance Zerlein, NFL.com — Rolls into the top of the route. Average speed to threaten the seam. Needs to get through NFL routes with better pace. Benefited from play-action to generate loads of open looks. Tall pads, narrow base and wide hands as run blocker.

Brentley Weissman, Draft Network — Hands. Rawness. Level of competition

Ian Cummings, Pro Football Network — Above all else, Kraft can still seek further refinement as a route runner. There are moments where he could do a better job pressing into stems to adequately bait and displace defenders. He also sometimes relies on his physicality to a fault, trying to go straight through defenders. In the process, he works himself upright and stalls his momentum. Overall, Kraft plays too upright as a route runner. He doesn’t have great natural hip sink, and his overarching consistency could improve. Outside of that department, there are other operational issues to note. As a receiver, Kraft sometimes seeks to tuck the ball into his torso before properly securing it with his hands, resulting in drops. He’ll also clap-catch at times, and can more consistently maintain diamond technique to guide passes in.

NFL Draft Buzz — ​​Has run a limited route tree at South Dakota and routes he does run are too often rounded. Too often blocks too high and lets defenders under his pads and win the leverage battle. While his hands are pretty good he suffers from concentration drops due to turning and running before securing. He isn’t going to overwhelm opposing defensive backs with elite speed and athleticism. Kraft really isn’t a burner and doesn’t have elite suddenness and will struggle quickly making sharp cuts

Greg Cosell, The 33rd Team — More effort and commitment as run blocker than strength and power. Can he block bigger people at next level? Tendency to play a little too tall as run blocker, narrowing his base and losing ability to generate needed power.

Bleacher Report — Poor route-runner right now. Has the athletic skills, but looks terribly awkward and inefficient. Ball tracking can waver. Sometimes struggles to locate and pluck the ball from tough positions. Overall a great blocker, but can play too high sometimes.

Overall

Dane Brugler, The Athletic — A three-year starter at South Dakota State, Kraft was a hybrid tight end (inline, wing and slot) in the Jackrabbits’ balanced offense. After passing on

lucrative NIL offers from programs like Alabama, he returned to Brookings in 2022 for what NFL scouts expected to be his breakout season, but an ankle injury in the first quarter of the opener vs. Iowa curtailed that plan (he still returned and helped the program win the 2022 FCS National Championship). As a pass catcher, Kraft is an outstanding catch-and-go creator with fluid adjustment skills and balanced feet. As a blocker, he might not be polished, but he gets after it with the body control and desire to sustain and finish blocks. Since 1976, South Dakota State has only produced two top-100 draft picks and both were tight ends (Dallas Goedert No. 49

overall in 2018 and Steve Heiden No. 69 in 1999) – Kraft should be the third. Overall, Kraft needs development time to refine his route running and blocking techniques, but he is big, strong and athletic with the ball skills and blocking tenacity to evolve into an NFL starter. His play style and talent are reminiscent of Foster Moreau.

Lance Zerlein, NFL.com — Combination tight end with the projectable skill set to handle pass-catching and run-blocking duties at the next level. Currently, he’s a more effective blocker in space than in-line, but that is correctable with better hand usage and proper angles of entry into his base blocks. Kraft provides formational versatility that will be appealing for teams that make heavy use of 12 personnel (two tight ends). He has the body control and catch toughness to be more than just a traditional Y tight end. Kraft has Day 2 talent and should see the field early with a chance to become a TE1.

Brentley Weissman, Draft Network — At this point in time, Kraft is more athletic than a nuanced football player, but his skill set is easy to project at the next level. He will be a complete tight end that has the athleticism to be a high-volume pass target who can make plays on his own thanks to his run instincts and strength while also being a solid run blocker. 

Ian Cummings, Pro Football Network — While Kraft has room for added refinement in several areas, he’s well-rounded enough to make an impact early in his NFL career. He should see starting reps in Year 1, and he has the physical tools and physical demeanor to grow into a high-quality starter with ample two-phase appeal.

NFL Draft Buzz — Tucker Kraft is a very solid pro-tight-end prospect. He has good measurables which were showcased in the combine drills, a very productive college playing history, decent but not great hands, and has also proved to be a major contributor as a blocker. He doesn't come without reservation, however - as he still looks a little raw and has managed to get things done at the college level mainly through athletic ability rather than technique. Something he will not be able to do at the pro level. Kraft has eventual starting potential at the next level and currently looks like a third or fourth-round selection in the 2023 NFL draft.

Greg Cosell, The 33rd Team — Overall, Kraft is a higher-level TE prospect with some similarities to Dallas Goedert when he came out of South Dakota State in 2018 as the 49th pick in the draft (Goedert was a slightly better athlete than Kraft, although many of the athletic measurables are similar). I believe Kraft will be a top-50 pick in the 2023 draft, and it would not surprise me if he went higher.

Bleacher Report — Kraft is an exciting prospect. Tight ends with his size and athletic profile are exactly what the NFL is looking for, and he's also stepping into the pros as a ready-made blocker. Better yet, it's reasonable to expect Kraft to improve his deficiencies as a route-runner with good coaching. Kraft should fit into any offensive system, though he would probably be best-valued in an offense that prioritizes his yards-after-catch skills.

Where tucker Kraft Ranked on Evaluators’ Big boards

Dane Brugler, The Athletic - 51

NFL Draft Buzz - 89

The 33rd Team - 45

Bleacher Report - 47

Todd McShay, ESPN - 61

NFL Mock Draft Database Consensus Big Board - 67