Paul Bretl | 8/2/2025
GREEN BAY, Wis. — We know that at the top of the tight end depth chart for the Packers are Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave. However, that third spot on the depth chart, which could come with some playing time, is up for grabs, and it appears that John FitzPatrick is in control of that role in the early going of training camp.
FitzPatrick was a late addition to the Packers’ roster in 2024, not joining the team until early October, when he was signed off the Atlanta practice squad as Green Bay attempted to bolster their tight end depth while Luke Musgrave was injured.
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A restricted free agent this past offseason, the Packers did not originally place a tender on FitzPatrick, which then made him an unrestricted free agent and able to sign with any team. But he would make his way back to Green Bay.
After having to learn Matt LaFleur’s robust playbook on the fly last season, FitzPatrick is now much more comfortable with the scheme and his role, having had a full offseason with the team under his belt.
“I feel good,” FitzPatrick said. “It’s been fun. Spending a lot more time with these guys. Learning more from JD (tight ends coach John Dunn), having that full offseason, OTAs, and this training camp to go through to really understand the offense more. That’s been good.”
FitzPatrick is competing with Ben Sims for that third tight end role, but he appears to be ahead of him in the early pecking order based on playing time up to this point. Both FitzPatrick and Sims have seen regular snaps with the twos, but FitzPatrick has been the go-to tight end with that unit when only one is on the field. He’s also gained some reps with the ones as well.
During his college career at Georgia, the primary responsibility for the 6-7 – 262 pound FitzPatrick was as a blocker. In the 90 snaps he’s played at the NFL level with the Packers and Falcons, that’s often been his role as well.
In these early training camp practices, FitzPatrick has provided the offense with an added in-line presence when on the field, but now acclimated to the offense, there have also been more opportunities to move him around, which includes some reps lining up in the backfield and going in motion.
“There’s some stuff similar to what I did back in college, which is fun. A lot of fun movements, running around, hitting people. Old school football. I really enjoy it, getting in the backfield and running around and hitting people.”
While blocking is FitzPatrick’s bread and butter, he flashed his abilities in the passing game during Friday’s practice. Operating with the second-team offense and running a corner route, FitzPatrick made a sliding catch along the sidelines on a well-placed ball by Malik Willis. Then, during the red zone period, FitzPatrick caught a touchdown pass from Jordan Love on a bootleg.
FitzPatrick isn’t going to overtake Musgrave for the TE2 role. But as a blocking-first tight end, he could carve out some snaps in certain situations with the blocking component still a work in progress for Musgrave and something that likely won’t ever be a strength of his game.
The benefit of having a strong blocking presence behind Kraft is not only the help that tight end can provide in the run game, but if the Packers want to feature Kraft more heavily in the passing game this season, then whether it’s Musgrave, FitzPatrick, Sims, or some combination of the three, a steady blocking presence behind him on the tight end depth chart will be required in order to free Kraft up to take on other responsibilities.
“At tight end, you have to be able to do it all,” said tight ends coach John Dunn, “and then a big part of that (is), sometimes you don’t get as many reps as say Tuck does during the week. And so the mental part and the preparation part is just as critical.
“So the thing that those guys (FitzPatrick and Sims) outside of their physical ability, to be able to do what we’re asking them, I mean, they’re pros. They study like they’re playing every play, they go about their business the right way. Obviously they have talent. They’re doing everything we’re asking them to do. I love those guys.”