Paul Bretl | 8/17/2024
GREEN BAY, Wis. — We saw individually last season the potential that both Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft possess, but what we didn’t see a lot of were those powers being harnessed on the field together–or at least not with the full capabilities that are now available. That ability can help unlock a whole new world of potential for the Packers’ offense.
“No, I don’t,” said Matt LaFleur when asked if the offense had the best versions of Musgrave and Kraft together in 2023. “It seemed like they were all kind of like going out at different times. Obviously, Luke missed quite a bit towards the end of the season, so yeah, to have both of those guys at full strength I think can definitely change the complexion of our offense.”
Early on in 2023, when both Musgrave and Kraft were healthy, Kraft’s role on offense was fairly small. He was frequently used as a blocker, and averaged just over 12 snaps per contest through five weeks. However, as Kraft got more acclimated to his role, his playing time began to increase before he was regularly playing 80-plus percent of the offensive snaps following Musgrave’s kidney injury in Week 11. Musgrave would then return for Week 18 and the Packers’ two playoff games.
Even without Musgrave and Kraft firing on all cylinders at the same time last season, the Packers still used 12 personnel–or two tight end sets–at a relatively high rate. According to Sumer Sports, the Packers had two tight ends on the field on 32 percent of their snaps. This was the second-most utilized personnel package for the Packers and only two teams–Atlanta and New England–used 12 personnel more often.
In terms of their skill-sets, Kraft and Musgrave each bring a different element to the Packers’ offense. Musgrave with his elite speed at the position, can stretch the field as we saw last season, with 16 percent of his targets coming 20-plus yards downfield–the fifth-highest rate of any tight end. Kraft, meanwhile, is excellent after the catch with the ball in his hands, ranking sixth among all tight ends in YAC from Week 12 though the playoffs.
However, while both can impact the passing game in different ways, the Packers believe that both are also more than capable blockers, and it’s those two elements when coupled together that can help unlock an offense’s full potential.
“I set a precedent for myself,” said Kraft upon his return to the practice field, “a large goal of mine this year, I want to be the best tight end in the outside zone. That’s a huge ask, especially in our offense, and I want people to feel confident putting me out there to pass protect, putting me out there to run block, putting me out there to run routes.”
For Matt LaFleur as the play-caller, having two tight ends who can impact both the running and passing games helps open up the playbook for him, allowing the Packers to get much more creative, particularly from 12 personnel, when both tight ends are on field.
Having one tight end, but especially two, who can make plays in the passing game and be a capable as a blocker further adds the unpredictability element to the offense. Pre-snap, defenses can’t decipher as easily whether a run or pass is coming simply based on where the tight ends are lined up. There are also the mismatches Kraft and Musgrave can create with their abilities to line up across the formation.
This then forces defenses to respect both the run and the pass on any given play, thus having to defend the entire field, which creates better spacing and more room for the offense to operate in.
“I think it just adds to the complexity of your offense, in terms of having multiple personnel groupings,” said Matt LaFleur. “I think both those 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.
“And 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 from a year ago, it’s night and day.”
When LaFleur took over as the head coach we often heard him use the phrase the ‘illusion of complexity,’ which versatile tight ends help enhance. The combination of Kraft and Musgrave allows the Packers to run a number of plays from just a few personnel packages and like-plays–or plays that begin similarly but end up being different–that build off each other throughout the game.
All of this creates mismatches for not only Kraft and Musgrave to exploit, but helps open up opportunities for others within the offense, and generally speaking, is an added stressor for opponents, keeping the defense guessing and off-balanced.
“I think tight ends are great weapons, right? Because they can really wear a bunch of different hats,” said tight ends coach John Dunn. “And so not to get into the schematics of how we use guys but you start getting two on the field and now the defense (asks), how do you match that? How do they defend that? How are you using them?
“And we talk about it in our room all the time, the more you can do, the better we’re going to be as an offense, the better we’re going to be as a unit, the better we’re going to be as a group. I think it’s exciting.”
Kraft returned to team drills this week at practice and plans on playing in the Packers’ season opener against Philadelphia. For Musgrave, it’s been a bit of a quiet training camp overall up to this point–although he’s had several receptions this week and is coming off a strong performance against Denver–but as tight ends coach John Dunn mentioned, that isn’t a reflection of Musgrave’s play, but that is sometimes just how things go this time of the year, depending on what the emphasis is that practice, how the defense defends certain plays, and what is being installed.
The true potential and ceiling that Kraft and Musgrave bring to the table when paired together isn’t going to be recognized during training camp anyways, with the foundation of the playbook being installed and vanilla schematic looks dominating preseason games.
However, once the regular season arrives and game-planning for specific opponents really begins, that is where LaFleur can enter the lab and conjure up some truly creative play designs for his dynamic tight end duo.
“It’ll be really productive,” said Musgrave following the team’s joint practice with Denver. “I think it’ll give us a lot of cool options to do as tight ends and also we got some great other depth at tight end that’s also really exciting, so really excited for that and I’m sure Tuck is as well and we’re just really excited.”