The Green Bay Packers drafted two dynamic and “all-around” tight ends with Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft. However, recent history at the tight end positions suggests it will be a steep learning curve for the duo as they make the transition from college to the NFL.
In a 2018 article from ESPN’s Jamison Hensley, he wrote that in the prior 15 years (so going back to 2003), only two rookie tight ends surpassed the 600-yard receiving mark. Since then, only Kyle Pitts has been added to that list. In an excerpt from the article, former Ravens tight end Todd Heap was told by a coach of his that only the quarterback should know more about the offense than the tight end. The reality is that most tight ends don’t hit their stride until Year 2 or even 3 in the NFL.
This position comes with many responsibilities, especially in the Matt LaFleur offense, where in addition to the tight end’s role as a pass catcher, different alignments, along with being a willing and capable blocker, are important as well. In short, tight ends have to know route concepts like a receiver and blocking techniques and assignments like an offensive tackle while also being able to execute in those areas as well.
“There’s so many demands on the tight end,” said GM Brian Gutekunst. “They have to know their passing trees and all the things we are doing from that standpoint, and also run blocking and pass blocking. It’s a very demanding position. As you guys have seen how Matt uses multiple tight ends it’s very important to our offense, so I think sometimes that can be scheme related, but to us it’s very, very important.”
With the state of the Packers’ tight end room at the moment, they don’t have the luxury to bring Kraft and Musgrave along slowly, something that we’ve seen Green Bay take advantage of at other position groups over the years. Josiah Deguara, and his 600-plus snaps, is the most experienced player in this position group, while Tyler Davis has primarily been utilized on special teams.
For this reason, adding a veteran tight end to this roster always made sense as he would provide Jordan Love someone to lean on as Musgrave and Kraft inevitably go through ups and downs. However, as we all know, the Packers don’t have much in terms of spending power with their salary cap situation.
Most likely, any addition would be signed to a near-league minimum deal, or Green Bay would again have to utilize void years – pushing more cap charges to 2024 and…
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