It looks pretty certain that Tucker Kraft won’t be playing on Sunday. Kraft injured his knee at practice Thursday. Matt LaFleur says Kraft won’t practice today, and they’ll make a decision on him on Sunday.
Reports suggest the injury is more of a tweak rather than an injury that should sideline him for long. He’ll probably be back in Week 4.
With the Packers having Super Bowl aspirations and playing against a lesser opponent, I don’t think it’s likely that he’ll be active. I wouldn’t be surprised if Kraft instead doesn’t even travel with the team (per league rules, the Packers will downgrade Kraft to out on Saturday if he doesn’t make the trip to Cleveland).
For those who were hoping to start Kraft, the best waiver-wire replacement might be Luke Musgrave. The Packers, recall, actually drafted Musgrave a round before Kraft back in 2023. Musgrave started the first half of that season before getting hurt, allowing Kraft to Wally Pipp him.
I noticed Musgrave (pictured) getting downfield in Week 2 against the Commanders for a 23-yard catch, and it made me wonder whether he might re-emerge as some point. He possibly would start on a bunch of other teams. He’s caught all 3 of the passes thrown his way this year. With the Packers, I like that they don’t have great receivers and have been using their tight end. Jayden Reed and Christian Watson are both out, and they haven’t gotten Matthew Golden ramped up yet.
If we back up the clock to the middle of the 2023 season, Musgrave was looking just fine. He caught 31 passes for 341 yards and a touchdown in his first 10 games. (I remember a long ball that was off target in Week 1 that year, or there would be another touchdown). In the last 10 years, only eight rookie tight ends have compiled more yards in their first 10 games.
To me, Musgrave looks like a guy who might be ready to step in and do a decent impersonation of Kraft.
| ROOKIE TIGHT ENDS, FIRST 10 GAMES (2015-2024) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Tgt | No | Yards | Avg | TD |
| 2024 | Brock Bowers, L.V. | 89 | 70 | 706 | 10.1 | 3 |
| 2021 | Kyle Pitts, Atl. | 69 | 43 | 635 | 14.8 | 1 |
| 2023 | Sam LaPorta, Det. | 69 | 50 | 492 | 9.8 | 4 |
| 2017 | Evan Engram, NYG | 78 | 41 | 452 | 11.0 | 5 |
| 2023 | Dalton Kincaid, Buff. | 51 | 45 | 390 | 8.7 | 2 |
| 2019 | Noah Fant, Den. | 47 | 27 | 360 | 13.3 | 2 |
| 2016 | Hunter Henry, S.D. | 35 | 24 | 351 | 14.6 | 4 |
| 2019 | T.J. Hockenson, Det. | 46 | 26 | 349 | 13.4 | 2 |
| 2023 | Luke Musgrave, G.B. | 45 | 33 | 341 | 10.3 | 1 |
| 2021 | Pat Freiermuth, Pitt. | 49 | 36 | 287 | 8.0 | 5 |
| 2022 | Cade Otton, T.B. | 35 | 26 | 281 | 10.8 | 1 |
| 2019 | Dawson Knox, Buff. | 35 | 20 | 279 | 14.0 | 2 |
| 2017 | O.J. Howard, T.B. | 26 | 17 | 279 | 16.4 | 4 |
| 2017 | George Kittle, S.F. | 42 | 27 | 277 | 10.3 | 1 |
| 2018 | Mark Andrews, Balt. | 33 | 22 | 263 | 12.0 | 2 |
| 2018 | Chris Herndon, NYJ | 26 | 19 | 257 | 13.5 | 3 |
| 2024 | Ja'Tavion Sanders, Car. | 32 | 26 | 253 | 9.7 | 1 |
| 2016 | Austin Hooper, Atl. | 20 | 15 | 249 | 16.6 | 2 |
| 2019 | Irv Smith, Min. | 29 | 24 | 241 | 10.0 | 0 |
| 2024 | Theo Johnson, NYG | 32 | 21 | 238 | 11.3 | 1 |
| 2022 | Greg Dulcich, Den. | 26 | 17 | 223 | 13.1 | 1 |
| 2017 | David Njoku, Cle. | 39 | 20 | 211 | 10.6 | 3 |
| 2022 | Isaiah Likely, Balt. | 33 | 18 | 206 | 11.4 | 2 |
| 2017 | Gerald Everett, LAR | 19 | 9 | 206 | 22.9 | 1 |
—Ian Allan