Tucker Kraft walked his own path from small town to big time

GREEN BAY – Tucker Kraft may come from a small town and small school, but he’s had his eye on the bright lights of the NFL for a while now.

The native of Timber Lake, S.D., and product of reigning FCS champion South Dakota State said the NFL has been on his radar since he was 19. His confidence was such that he didn’t feel the need to transfer to a Power 5 conference despite NIL offers that would’ve paid him six-figure sums.

It was admittedly tempting to finish his college career in a bigger, more lucrative locale after catching 65 passes for 773 yards and six touchdowns in 2021. But the 6-5, 254-pound tight end decided to stick to his roots, and it worked out just fine, beginning with a 2022 national championship and culminating in the Packers using their third-round draft pick, No. 78 overall, to select him Friday night.

“I came from a really small rural community,” Kraft said of Timber Lake, population 513. “I came from adversity. My father passed away when I was 12, my mother being really sick with an auto-immune disease. I realized I was going to have to take my path on my own.”

He won’t be alone coming to Green Bay as a rookie tight end, though. Kraft was the second tight end the Packers drafted Friday after spending a second-round pick (No. 42 overall) on Oregon State’s Luke Musgrave.

Kraft and Musgrave met during the pre-draft process, got along well, and even took a joint visit to the Cincinnati Bengals. Now they’ll be together learning a Packers offense quarterbacked by Jordan Love as General Manager Brian Gutekunst initiated a potential overhaul of the tight end position in a span of a couple hours.