Green Bay Packers

What Role Will Luke Musgrave Return To Amid Tucker Kraft’s Ascension?

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Former second-round pick Luke Musgrave is back at practice this week as the Green Bay Packers prepare to host the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football. The Packers drafted Musgrave in the same 2023 class as breakout tight end Tucker Kraft. How will he fit into operations now that Green Bay has established a pecking order?

The Packers drafted Musgrave a round ahead of Kraft, an FCS product out of South Dakota State. Perhaps that draft pedigree gave him the early edge in snaps and targets when the Packers took the field for the first time in 2023. However, the flippening that has happened since makes me wonder how big Musgrave’s piece of the pie might be when he’s ready to retake the field.

Matt LaFleur’s offense has experienced a breakthrough in its running game this season, reaching new heights behind durable, bruising veteran back Josh Jacobs. Aaron Jones captured many hearts and made countless memories in Green Bay. While the swap for the younger, more physical Jacobs was difficult, it has been another feather in Brian Gutekunst’s cap thus far.

LaFleur’s creative run schemes and the corresponding multi-dimensionality of the offense have led to no shortage of 12-personnel groupings. For now, it has been Ben Sims and John FitzPatrick, neither of whom has demonstrated much of anything in the receiving game, picking up most of the extra snaps.

It feels unlikely that Musgrave presents a challenge to Kraft’s starting role, in which he has quickly become a fan favorite and nationally recognized. However, down the stretch of this upcoming playoff run and the next two years of his rookie contract, he can add a dimension to the play-action game out of 12 personnel.

Coming out of the draft, Musgrave impressed at camp with his contested-catch ability and shocking speed for a 6’6” frame. LaFleur often employed him upright in the slot to get him running downfield routes against linebackers, which were full of potential but resulted in more near-misses than smash hits – except, of course, the iconic “Musgrave stayed on his feet” moment.

In that moment, he’d scored a dagger touchdown in Green Bay’s statement win at AT&T Stadium. Kraft followed that up with a score of his own in the Packers’ upset bid at Levi’s, all amounting to an embarrassment of riches in the pass-catching room that would have to work itself out one way or another.

Gutekunst wasn’t hedging his bet when he took two tight ends on Day 2 of the draft. The young, rebuilding Packers had far too many needs for him to take that approach. Their skill sets were unique: Kraft, the bruiser, Musgrave, the field stretcher. As such, Kraft has done a lot of his work on play-action routes to the flat and designed tight end screens. Where Musgrave can add another dimension is down the seam and over the middle.

Green Bay is in an awkward spot as the final three games of the regular season loom. They can’t do much to propel themselves upward, as the Detroit Lions have virtually clinched the North. They don’t even control their own destiny when it comes to the 12-2 Vikings, whose dramatic ascension has left the 10-4 Packers to likely claim third. The primary goal for the rest of the season is to avoid playing the No. 2 seed in the opening round, whether that ends up being Detroit or the Philadelphia Eagles.

Other than that, all that’s left to do is keep the Washington Commanders in the rearview mirror, try and get as healthy as possible, and get ready for whichever 9-8 division champion they’ll have to take on as road favorites. With Luke Musgrave set to return and give LaFleur a two-headed monster at tight end, perhaps these final weeks can open up the playbook and see what type of firepower can be gained from No. 88’s return.

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