Will the Packers Finally Get Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave on the Field Together?

This will be the third season that Green Bay Packers tight ends Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave will be on the team’s roster. However, during their first two campaigns, injuries prevented the duo from being playing together for very long. Will the Packers finally get Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave on the field together and healthy at the same time and what will it mean for the Green Bay offense?

Will the Packers Get Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave on the Field Together? Their Careers So Far

The Packers selected both tight ends in the 2023 NFL Draft. The team needed an overhaul at the position after the departures of Robert Tonyan and Marcedes Lewis. GM Brian Gutekunst added Musgrave in the second round of the draft and then selected Kraft in the third round.

Musgrave won the starting job out of training camp and was the Week 1 starter with Kraft seeing most of his playing time on special teams.

But at midseason, Musgrave suffered a lacerated kidney which sidelined him for most of the rest of the season. Kraft took over as the starter and began to show what he could do.

In 2023, Musgrave finished with 34 catches for 352 yards and a touchdown in 11 games. Kraft caught 31 passes during his rookie season for 355 yards and two scores.

Last season, injuries limited Musgrave to just seven games and he caught just seven passes for 45 yards. Meanwhile, Kraft took over as the starter and caught 50 passes for 707 yards and a team-leading seven touchdown catches.

The Skill Sets

From the start, the Packers knew they were getting two very different styles of tight end when they selected Musgrave and Kraft. Musgrave has more downfield speed and the ability to run deeper patterns down the seam. Kraft specializes more in running after the catch. He can take a short pass and pick up good yardage because he’s so difficult to bring down once he has the football.

Neither Musgrave nor Kraft entered the league as outstanding blockers. Both have proven themselves willing and they have improved in this area.

Unfortunately, because of Musgrave’s string of bad luck with injuries, the duo has not been on the field together much when both players were healthy.

Will the Packers Get Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave on the Field Together? An Eager Coach

Earlier this week, the Packers coordinators addressed the media during voluntary OTAs. Offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich singled out Musgrave as a player he was eager to see healthy and on the field in 2025.

“I think having Luke Musgrave back is going to help us in 12 personnel. You can do a lot of good stuff out of 12 personnel as far as the play-action game,” Stenavich explained. “And then just his juice and speed down the field is another area of our offense we’ve kind of scratched the surface on. Having more tight ends available just helps you just as far as blocking on the edge. When you put your tight ends one-on-one with the defensive end in a lot of play-passes, that’s not a good situation a lot of times. Tucker Kraft does a good job, but now, if you can have another tight end and kind of double-team the guy, then that makes it a little easier to get the ball down the field obviously.”

Head coach Matt LaFleur has always wanted to see both Kraft and Musgrave on the field together. He made extensive use of two-tight end formations when he was the offensive coordinator in Tennessee in 2018.

A year ago, LaFleur enthusiastically said, “I think it just adds to the complexity of your offense in terms of having multiple personnel groupings,” when asked about having both tight ends available. “I think both these guys can do it all. I think they both will end up becoming complete tight ends in this league in terms of their ability to run block and then what they can do for you in the passing game.” The also added, “I think they both have a little bit different flavor to them which for us allows for more flexibility on the offensive side of the ball. They’re both great dudes that love the game of football and I think just to see where they are right now from a year ago, it’s just night and day.”

The Future

The potential remains there for Musgrave and Kraft to become the most dynamic tight end duo the Packers have had since Keith Jackson and Mark Chmura in the mid-1990s. But both players need to stay healthy to turn that potential into reality. That would make the Packers offense and even more difficult challenge for opposing defenses next season.