Paul Bretl | 1/15/2024
GREEN BAY, Wis. — The offseason is a time for reflection and evaluation, but Packers’ head coach didn’t need much time after the 2024 season ended to recognize that Tucker Kraft needs to be involved more on offense.
“100%,” said LaFleur on Tuesday when asked if Kraft can have a George Kittle or Travis Kelce-like impact in the Packers’ offense, “and I think that’s on us to make sure we find him and feature him because he is, I mean, when he gets the ball in his hands, you feel him. So, if there’s an area that we gotta do a better job on, I would say featuring the tight end.”
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Kraft had 70 targets and 55 receptions this season, so it’s not as if he was forgotten about in the passing game. He also led this Packers team in touchdowns this season. With that said, there were also nine games where he had three or fewer targets, and that’s a small role for such an impactful presence.
There is certainly more out there for Kraft in the passing game. If LaFleur believes he can have that Kittle or Kelce-like impact, then he needs more opportunities, particularly in an offense that was dealing with injuries and up-and-down play at the receiver position during the season.
Despite ranking 17th among all tight ends in targets, Kraft was sixth in receiving yards this season with 733, in large part due to his ability to pick up yards after the catch (YAC) and generate chunk plays. Kraft’s 13.3 yards per catch was the third-highest mark among tight ends and he led the position group in average YAC per reception.
“I talked about playing with violence and finishing and just being an (expletive)-hole out there,” said Kraft on Monday. “I think you turn the film on, you’re gonna see ‘85’ all over the field, just doing that. I’m just gonna come back and bring it again in 2025. You guys are gonna see the same thing, same goals I want to set out. I want to be the best blocking tight end in the NFL while also being that guy. I want to be the guy in Year 3. I have goals and aspirations.”
The opportunity for Kraft that is out there doesn’t only come with more opportunities in the passing game, but in how he’s utilized–and this is two-fold. It’s, at times, making him one of the first reads in Jordan Love’s progression so he is more of a focal point in the passing game.
In addition to that, it’s moving Kraft around more and allowing him to attack different parts of the field. According to Pro Football Focus, of Kraft’s 70 targets, only 10 came 10 yards or more beyond the line of scrimmage. However, particularly over the middle of the field–where tight ends can be a real mismatch–on those intermediate to deep routes, Kraft was 6-fo-6 when targeted on such throws, totaling 184 yards with two touchdowns.
So why as the season unfolded didn’t we see Kraft get more of those opportunities in the passing game that were just described?
In part, as LaFleur described, there is a learning opportunity here for him when it comes to how he incorporates Kraft into his game-plans. But, as is always the case, there’s more to it than just that.
There are the regular blocking responsibilities or chips that limit his route tree and the Packers were short-handed at the tight end position for much of the year with Luke Musgrave on injured reserve for a large portion of it, which left the Packers with Ben Sims and John FitzPatrick seeing more significant playing time.
“For a lot of reasons,” said LaFleur when asked why Kraft wasn’t featured more this season. “It just depends, going back to who you’re playing. A lot of times, especially in known passing situations, we were trying to help certain spots and typically I would say it’s usually the tight ends and the backs who get a bunch of that responsibility. That’s part of the reason.”
The Packers will spend the offseason diagnosing their own passing game and what went wrong in these final games of the season that resulted in the disjointed performances we saw. Featuring Kraft and expanding how he is utilized in the passing game won’t be the only solution, but it can potentially be a big part of that equation because of the mismatches he creates, his ability to pick up yards after the catch, and just the pure tenacity he plays with.
“I’m going to do everything I can in my power to stay healthy,” said Tucker Kraft of the upcoming offseason. “I was shorted of an offseason last year. I’m going to do everything I can to get on the same page and build that relationship and that trust (with Jordan Love) and get everybody in here on that strain of camaraderie and brotherhood. That’s what it’s going to take.”