Story over the weekend about Green Bay tight end Tucker Kraft. He's coming back from a torn ACL suffered in Week 9 a year ago, so there's something of an injury discount in drafts. But once he's healthy, not many at the position are better.
The first half of last year, in fact, only two tight ends were better than him on a per-game basis: Trey McBride and Brock Bowers. That's a small sample set, so let's instead look at all tight ends who have started at least half the time over the past two seasons. Even then, Kraft has finished just outside the top 5 in PPR leagues.
Table shows the top 50 since the start of the 2024 season (per-game numbers).
| TIGHT ENDS PER GAME, 2024-2025 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | St | No | Rec | TD | FPG |
| Trey McBride, Ari. | 33 | 7.2 | 72.3 | .45 | 17.1 |
| George Kittle, S.F. | 26 | 5.2 | 66.7 | .58 | 15.3 |
| Brock Bowers, L.V. | 29 | 6.1 | 64.6 | .43 | 15.1 |
| Travis Kelce, K.C. | 33 | 5.2 | 50.7 | .25 | 11.8 |
| Dallas Goedert, Phil. | 25 | 4.1 | 43.5 | .52 | 11.5 |
| Tucker Kraft, G.B. | 25 | 3.3 | 47.8 | .53 | 11.3 |
| Sam LaPorta, Det. | 25 | 4.0 | 48.6 | .40 | 11.3 |
| Tyler Warren, Ind. | 17 | 4.5 | 48.1 | .29 | 11.1 |
| David Njoku, Cle. | 23 | 4.2 | 34.7 | .42 | 10.2 |
| Zach Ertz, Was. | 30 | 3.9 | 38.6 | .40 | 10.1 |
| Kyle Pitts, Atl. | 34 | 4.0 | 45.0 | .26 | 10.1 |
| Hunter Henry, N.E. | 33 | 3.8 | 43.7 | .27 | 9.8 |
| Jake Ferguson, Dall. | 31 | 4.5 | 35.3 | .27 | 9.7 |
| Mark Andrews, Balt. | 34 | 3.0 | 32.2 | .50 | 9.4 |
| Jonnu Smith, Pitt. | 34 | 3.7 | 32.5 | .32 | 9.1 |
| Dalton Kincaid, Buff. | 25 | 3.3 | 40.8 | .28 | 9.1 |
| Juwan Johnson, N.O. | 34 | 3.7 | 42.3 | .18 | 9.0 |
| Cade Otton, T.B. | 30 | 3.9 | 39.1 | .17 | 8.8 |
| Dalton Schultz, Hou. | 34 | 4.0 | 38.5 | .15 | 8.7 |
| Pat Freiermuth, Pitt. | 34 | 3.1 | 33.5 | .32 | 8.4 |
| T.J. Hockenson, Min. | 25 | 3.7 | 35.7 | .12 | 8.0 |
| Evan Engram, Den. | 25 | 3.9 | 33.0 | .09 | 7.8 |
| Brenton Strange, Jac. | 29 | 3.0 | 32.8 | .17 | 7.3 |
| Theo Johnson, NYG | 27 | 2.7 | 31.8 | .22 | 7.3 |
| Mike Gesicki, Cin. | 30 | 3.1 | 32.4 | .13 | 7.1 |
| Chig Okonkwo, Ten. | 34 | 3.2 | 30.6 | .13 | 7.0 |
| AJ Barner, Sea. | 34 | 2.4 | 22.5 | .32 | 6.6 |
| Noah Fant, Cin. | 29 | 2.8 | 27.2 | .14 | 6.4 |
| Isaiah Likely, Balt. | 30 | 2.3 | 26.1 | .23 | 6.3 |
| Colby Parkinson, LAR | 32 | 2.3 | 21.9 | .28 | 6.2 |
| Cole Kmet, Chi. | 33 | 2.3 | 24.9 | .20 | 6.0 |
| Will Dissly, LAC | 24 | 2.5 | 24.1 | .08 | 5.5 |
| Jordan Akins, Cle. | 17 | 2.4 | 22.9 | .12 | 5.4 |
| Austin Hooper, N.E. | 33 | 2.0 | 22.4 | .15 | 5.1 |
| Dawson Knox, Buff. | 33 | 1.8 | 22.1 | .16 | 4.9 |
| Tyler Conklin, LAC | 29 | 2.0 | 19.0 | .15 | 4.8 |
| Noah Gray, K.C. | 33 | 1.8 | 18.6 | .15 | 4.6 |
| Michael Mayer, L.V. | 24 | 2.3 | 20.2 | .04 | 4.6 |
| Ja'Tavion Sanders, Car. | 29 | 2.1 | 18.3 | .07 | 4.4 |
| Tommy Tremble, Car. | 29 | 1.7 | 16.7 | .14 | 4.2 |
| Foster Moreau, N.O. | 28 | 1.4 | 16.9 | .18 | 4.2 |
| Josh Oliver, Min. | 30 | 1.2 | 13.9 | .23 | 4.0 |
| Greg Dulcich, Mia. | 19 | 1.6 | 19.1 | .05 | 3.8 |
| Darnell Washington, Pitt. | 33 | 1.5 | 17.1 | .07 | 3.6 |
| Tanner Hudson, Cin. | 26 | 1.5 | 12.4 | .12 | 3.4 |
| Elijah Higgins, Ari. | 34 | 1.5 | 13.9 | .06 | 3.2 |
| Jackson Hawes, Buff. | 17 | .9 | 11.0 | .18 | 3.1 |
| Josh Whyle, G.B. | 25 | 1.3 | 11.4 | .09 | 3.0 |
| Mitchell Evans, Car. | 17 | 1.1 | 10.1 | .12 | 2.8 |
| Jake Tonges, S.F. | 33 | 1.0 | 8.9 | .15 | 2.8 |
Kraft was hosting a Youth Football camp in Green Bay, and when asked about his availability for the start of training camp, he was noncommittal. Which is fine: he doesn't need to be out running routes in late July to be a Week 1 starter.
But certainly, his participation should be monitored, as he's definitely a candidate to outperform where he'll typically be drafted once fully healthy. The ADP I'm seeing shows him about 5th-6th at the position. But clearly, him finishing as the No. 3 tight end would not be surprising, if he's fully healthy. And if he slips much lower than 5th, that could be a nice value.
--Andy Richardson
