Paul Bretl | 5/22/2025
GREEN BAY, Wis. — This Packers’ offense may still be young in terms of average age, but we are now past the point where this unit is young in experience. For many of the key contributors on that side of the ball, the 2025 season will be Year 3 and beyond for them.
However, even with that being the case, there is still one portion of the playbook that we haven’t seen a lot of yet, and it includes tight ends Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave being on the field together.
“The one thing about Luke, and I know it’s the offseason, and we’re in Phase II, but he’s been working his tail off and he’s been doing a great job getting back,” said tight ends coach John Dunn. “Every year’s a new year. He’s had a couple setbacks during the season due to no fault of his own, but it’ll be fun to see. That’s kind of the answer, and the more he can do, the more we will do. So I think it’ll be fun having those guys out there together.”
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A question that has often come up over the last two years centers around what this Packers offense can do when both Kraft and Musgrave are able to share the field. The reason it is asked so frequently is that we haven’t seen much of that pairing.
Various injuries during Musgrave’s first two seasons, which include a lacerated kidney in 2023 and an ankle injury in 2024, have limited him to just 18 out of a possible 34 regular-season games.
With an impressive combination of size and speed, Musgrave brings a field-stretching presence to the tight end position. But even in games he’s appeared in, we haven’t seen the full extent of that playmaking potential regularly on display. While he’s been a reliable target, catching 77% of his 61 career targets, Musgrave is averaging a modest 9.9 yards per catch.
Last season, specifically, even before the ankle injury he sustained in Week 4, Musgrave had a relatively quiet training camp, and through the Packers’ first three regular-season games, he had just four targets.
“I think for him it’s just playing the game,” said Dunn. “This is a game where you have to play it, especially at that position. And these guys are still, going into Year 3, they’re young in the position, so just playing the game, so you look at the first year, he was playing-playing-playing and getting better and better every single week. Obviously had the setback, so for him just playing the game is kind of how you get back to that spot.”
Kraft, meanwhile, has emerged as a do-it-all threat within this Packers offense, able to make an impact as a run-blocker, in the passing game, and his versatility allows him to be moved around the formation and fill a variety of roles.
When an offense has that well-rounded skill set at the tight end position, it unlocks a level of unpredictability for an offense. Defenses aren’t able to get a beat on what’s coming simply based on who is on the field or where the tight end is lined up.
And while all of that is true, there is still more out there for Kraft, particularly in the passing game. After the Packers’ playoff loss to Philadelphia, Matt LaFleur would say that the coaching staff has to do a better job of “featuring” Kraft at the tight end position.
Featuring Kraft in the passing game doesn’t only mean giving him more targets, but it’s also about where in Jordan Love’s progression he is the read, what levels of the field he is being asked to attack, and also moving him around the formation more often to create mismatches and to present the defense with different looks.
“There is,” said offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich when asked if there were more opportunities for Kraft. “That’s one thing we spent some time on this offseason is just kind of where we can get him to take the next step and I think just his route-running ability, getting him on more individual things like that, and just kind of growing him there. I think he did a really good job in the run game. That’s one thing that hopefully he can keep improving there to be a dominant player up front. Just trying to find different ways to give him the ball, that’s gonna be the big thing for us.”
Even when the Packers have been without Musgrave, using 12 personnel–or two tight end sets–has still been a common occurrence in the LaFleur offense. However, that unpredictability element previously described has the potential to be enhanced with Musgrave’s skill set in the mix.
Although Musgrave may be known for his pass-catching presence, the Packers very much believe in his ability as a blocker as well. So for a defense, when two tight ends are on the field, a decision has to be made: go bigger and play the run, which can then create mismatches for Kraft and Musgrave to exploit through the air, or go smaller to defend against Kraft and Musgrave in the passing game, but then be exposed to Josh Jacobs and the ground game.
Early in LaFleur’s tenure, we often heard him use the phrase “the illusion of complexity.” In short, it’s about keeping defenses off-balanced and guessing, and one way to accomplish that is by running a variety of plays from just a few personnel packages. Having the skill sets that Kraft and Musgrave possess, and then having them on the field together, enhances that ability.
“I think having Musgrave back is going to help us in 12 personnel,” Stenavich said. “You can do a lot of good stuff out of 12 personnel as far as the play-action game. And then just his juice and speed down the field is another area of our offense we’ve kind of scratched the surface on. But yeah, we’re always looking for different ways to amp up that play-pass game, so that’s one thing I think this offseason we’re really going to focus on for sure.”
Along with the opportunities that can be created for Kraft or Musgrave to take advantage of, their presence on the field together for the reasons mentioned can help generate mismatches for others on the Packers’ offense to exploit as well.
Two years ago, this was a brand-new tight end room in Green Bay. However, that is no longer the case, and with that continuity and familiarity with the offense, at a position where there can be endless possibilities when it comes to how these players are utilized, there are still aspects of this LaFleur system that remain untapped, particularly when it comes to two tight end sets.
“You start over every year in the NFL, but we’re not always starting from scratch,” Dunn said. “So the language we speak, it just advances it that much more. The comfort they have in each other, how they can coach each other because it’s been the same drills, the same language, the same that type of stuff, so they can help each other off the field. You see it.
“In leadership roles, these guys are helping each other behind the scenes when they see something. It’s not just my eyes. And not only are they helping each other but most of the time now they’re starting to get to a point where they know what to correct or what to fix before I tell them because they’ve done it enough times. So the continuity part is cool in terms of camaraderie but also on the field, it really goes both ways.”