Packers Training Camp Preview: Tight Ends

In Part 4 of a series of Green Bay Packers training camp positional previews, it’s a look at the tight ends, a group that features three Day 2 draft picks.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – It’s out with the old and in with the new at tight end for the Green Bay Packers in 2023.

Coming off a torn ACL, Robert Tonyan caught a career-high 53 passes in 2022. The oldest tight end in the NFL, Marcedes Lewis started all 17 games. Combined, they played 61 snaps per game.

This offseason, just as they did at quarterback and receiver, the Packers turned the page at tight end. Rather than re-signing their veterans, they used a second-round draft pick on Luke Musgrave and a third-round pick on Tucker Kraft. A second-round pick, Musgrave was Green Bay’s biggest addition at the position since selecting Bubba Franks in the first round in 2000.

With Josiah Deguara (39 receptions in three years) and Tyler Davis (eight receptions in three years) being the only returning players who’ve played in a game, the Packers will hope to get sudden impact from a position that rarely provides it. Of the second- and third-round tight ends selected over the last 15 drafts, the median production is 17 receptions for 180 yards and one touchdown.

In the fourth of a series of training camp previews, here is a closer look at the tight ends.

Projected Opening Depth Chart

Starters: Luke Musgrave, Josiah Deguara.

Backups: Tyler Davis, Tucker Kraft, Austin Allen, Camren McDonald, Henry Pearson (FB/TE).

Related Story: Projecting 2023 Training Camp Depth Charts

Position Group Ranking (out of 11)

Eighth.

Strength

You can’t ignore the youth and upside. This is a position near the bottom in terms of proven talent. What they lack in experience with Tonyan and Lewis out the door is excitement for the future.

From an excitement standpoint, there wasn’t a rookie who made more plays during the offseason practices than Musgrave. A second-round choice, he was the most explosive of the tight end prospects the Packers could have selected in April.

Musgrave was clocked at a max sprint speed more than 20 MPH at the Senior Bowl. He can give them an element they have been missing since Jared Cook helped open up the offense as a one-year rental in 2016. If Musgrave reaches even a significant fraction of his potential, he’ll be the best tight end they’ve had since Jermichael Finley.

After using third-round picks on Jace Sternberger in 2019 and Deguara in 2020, the Packers made a significant investment in this year’s draft. They took Musgrave with the 42nd overall pick, then double-dipped when they took Kraft in the third round.

Kraft gives them the potential to make plays after the ball is in his hands. He likely fits better as a traditional Y tight end than Musgrave.

Together? The two pair together perfectly in theory. The upside is off the charts.

Weakness

Tight end is an interesting group in that its strength is also its weakness. Simply, you can’t ignore the rookie learning curve.

They’ll be able to catch some teams by surprise with the relative unknown of Musgrave and Kraft, but those two are going to make their share of mistakes, as well.

“The best part about playing tight end is you get to do everything on the field besides throw the ball. The hardest part about playing tight end is you have to do everything on the field,” position coach John Dunn said before the start of OTAs.

“So, there’s no substitute for doing. We can teach them, they’re in the classroom, they do a great job learning, they’re smart guys, but what we’re going through now and what we’ll go through in training camp is the ultimate teacher. They have to get out there and they have to do it. They have to do it under pressure. They have to do it full speed. There’s going to be mistakes, right? A lot of learning is through failure, so there’s no substitute for that.”

Given the lackluster history of rookies at the position – Franks’ 34 receptions in 2000 is the record for a Packers rookie tight end – it was surprising the Packers didn’t bring back Tonyan or Lewis.

The veteran holdovers are Davis and Deguara, a pair of 2020 draft picks who are 26 years old. Davis is a core special-teamer but hasn’t shown he can be a starter for any extended period of time. Deguara is at his best when he’s being used all over the formation. He’s not a traditional tight end, and when they’ve tried to use him as such is when his weaknesses as a player have been exposed.

Key Questions

Luke Musgrave (88) and Tucker Kraft (Photo by Wm Glasheen/USA Today Sports Images)

How fast can Musgrave and Kraft get up to speed? With all due respect to Davis and Deguara, those two aren’t moving the needle for an opposing defense. While they likely will get their snaps, especially early in the season, for this offense to reach its true potential, the rookies are going to have to play.

If Musgrave and Kraft can be effective, they’d give Green Bay its most effective tight end duo since Jermichael Finley and Donald Lee were together in 2010.

Will a new quarterback mean more production for Deguara? After catching 25 passes for 245 yards and two touchdowns in 2021, a promising season that included a 62-yard touchdown on a screen from Jordan Love in Week 18 at Detroit, Deguara fell to 13 receptions for 114 yards in 2022.

As coach Matt LaFleur tinkers with his scheme to find what best suits for Love, will there be opportunities for Deguara to be more than a glorified fullback?

Could the Packers have something in Allen or McDonald? There’s some intrigue surrounding the guys on the bottom of the depth chart. At 6-foot-8, Allen stands out for obvious reasons. As a senior at Nebraska in 2021, he caught 38 passes for 602 yards, a 15.2-yard average that shows surprising athleticism. At Florida State, McDonald topped 20 receptions each of his final three seasons. He flashed strong hands throughout the offseason.

Biggest Battle

Musgrave vs. Kraft. How LaFleur uses his personnel will be interesting. While LaFleur rejects the notion he’ll be able to run a purer style of his offense, Aaron Rodgers’ influence is no longer present. We’ve never seen LaFleur have to coach without Rodgers, so it’s unclear what he’ll do.

Last season, the Packers ranked second in ‘12’ personnel usage – one back, two tight ends – at 29 percent. With rookies at tight end, could LaFleur go with more ‘11’ (one back, one tight end) or even ‘10’ (one back, zero tight ends)?

Musgrave and Kraft will have a say in that decision by their play on the field at practice and the preseason.

Musgrave looked like a clear winner in the offseason program, but that was all in shorts and a helmet. Things can change when the pads come on. That’s when Kraft’s physicality could jump to the forefront.

Star Search

This might sound like a broken record, but Musgrave is the biggest investment the Packers have made on a tight end since drafting Franks in 2000. His movement ability and catch radius in the middle of the field is something they’ve lacked since Finley retired a decade ago.

Musgrave isn’t likely to be a star in his rookie season. Kyle Pitts, the fourth overall pick by Atlanta in 2021, topped 1,000 yards as a rookie but had only 28 receptions for 356 yards last year.

Tight end is a hard position to learn and master. If there is a player from this group that could become a star, it’s Musgrave because he’s just so explosive.

Don’t Forget About

Deguara has had some nice moments. His rookie season was off to a promising start before he tore his ACL in Week 4 against Atlanta and missed the rest of the season.

He’s at his best when he’s being used around the formation. He does some good things as a blocker in space but has had limited chances in the passing game. Last year, he barely played for a three-game stretch in October.

A change at quarterback can mean a fresh start. Love was a draft classmate of Deguara. Love was at Deguara’s wedding in the spring, so they have a relationship off the field, as well.

With newfound chemistry and a potentially different offense stylistically, Deguara could have the best season as pro as he seeks a second contract from the team that used a top-100 pick on him in 2020.

Green Bay Packers Training Camp Previews

From depth chart projections to key questions, from strengths and weaknesses to the star of the show, here is our #Packers training camp preview of the receivers.https://t.co/p3MJDdBK5P

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) July 12, 2023

Positional preview: Christian Watson and the receivers

Position preview: Aaron Jones and the running backs

Position preview: Jordan Love and the quarterbacks

Projected depth charts

Big question at kicker

Big question at cornerback

Big question at safety

Big question at inside linebacker

Big question at outside linebacker

Big question at defensive line

Big question at offensive line

Big question at tight end

Big question at receiver

Big question at running back

Big question at quarterback