Nobody Tackles Tucker: Kraft Setting YAC Standard

With mindset, skill-set and fundamentals, Green Bay Packers tight end Tucker Kraft is running over everyone in his path in his run toward greatness.

Green Bay Packers tight end Tucker Kraft ran through a couple defenders for this touchdown at the Rams on Sunday. / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers tight end Tucker Kraft has set a standard.

“Don’t let a DB tackle me in space,” Kraft said after Sunday’s victory over the Los Angeles Rams.

Kraft is like a bowling ball made of butcher knives. While he’s tied for 14th among tight ends with 16 receptions, he’s No. 1 with seven forced missed tackles, according to Pro Football Focus.

“I would say it’s a lot mentality,” coach Matt LaFleur said on Monday.

Kraft’s run-after-catch dominance isn’t a surprise. He led all tight ends in yards after the catch per catch as a rookie last season. And it was his calling card at South Dakota State.

But he’s taken his get-out-of-my-way approach up a couple levels this year.

According to NFL data, 90 players have caught at least 15 passes through the first five weeks. Kraft is third in that group with 11.25 YAC per catch, trailing only a pair of running backs: Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson (11.50) and Chicago’s D’Andre Swift (11.47).

Pro Football Focus has YAC data going back to 2006. Of tight ends with more than 20 targets in a season, here is the YAC leaderboard:

Tucker Kraft, Packers (2024): 11.5.

Josh Hill, Saints (2018): 10.6.

Marcedes Lewis, Jaguars (2015): 9.9.

Luke Willson, Seahawks (2014) 9.8.

Jeremichael Finley, Packers (2013): 9.5.

Brock Wright, Lions (2022): 9.3.

To compare Kraft to 49ers star George Kittle might sound absurd. Kittle probably will wind up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

However, watching Kraft run through smaller defensive backs is reminiscent of Kittle breaking 20 tackles in 2019 and 15 last year.

“Always trying to make the first one miss,” Kraft said. “But head down, bull in a China shop. That’s just what I do.”

On Kraft’s 66-yard touchdown on Sunday, the first 20 yards of YAC were easy. Kraft was wide open at midfield and had head of steam by the time he stiff-armed a Rams defender to the turf around the 30. Dontayvion Wicks’ excellent blocking meant the final defender could only make a diving attempt near the 15.

The speed and determination were obvious. So were the fundamentals.

“I think it’s a lot of mentality,” LaFleur said. “It’s still making sure that you’re doing the little things the correct way. One thing we always stress is getting the ball in your outside arm. When you’re along the sidelines, that allows you to use the stiff-arm.

“Sometimes, you see guys put the ball in their inside arm. No. 1, that leaves the ball susceptible to getting punched out, but you also lose your ability to use the stiff-arm. I think it’s a combination of mentality and the skill-set and making sure that you’re using correct fundamentals.”

Kraft went from barely playing to start his rookie season to barely coming off the field. Luke Musgrave’s lacerated spleen opened the door to Kraft last year, and he stormed through it with guns blazing.

In Kraft’s first start last year, the win at Detroit, he played 54 of 56 snaps. That’s become a way of life. Over the final seven regular-season games last year, Kraft played at least 90 percent of the snaps in all but one game – the blowout win at Minnesota in Week 17, when he got to watch the end of the game from the sideline.

This year, he’s played 82.7 percent of the snaps on offense and 40.9 percent of the snaps on special teams. Between the two phases, he’s playing 66.2 snaps per game.

Simply put, Kraft is too valuable as a receiver and blocker to take off the field for long.

“I just love his evolution not only in the passing game but as a run blocker, as well, and the physicality he plays with,” said LaFleur, who’s kept Kraft in a noncontact red jersey at practice the last two weeks.

“He’s got the play style that we want, and I think it’s a credit to how he attacks and his approach to the game, his preparation, how he practices, how he takes everything from the meeting room and is able to apply it to the grass. I think JD [position coach John Dunn] does a great job with him.”

Playing so much and with such a physical mindset means Kraft needs to pick his spots.

“George Kittle is that kind of player,” LaFleur said. “You want guys playing on the edge, playing physical but also playing smart at the same time. I don’t want him every time, whether it’s a cross-sift or an insert-block, just throwing his shoulder into people.

“Sometimes you got to fit people up, use your hands, run your feet. It’s about playing with a good technique and good fundamentals that I think can allow you to stay healthy for a long time.”

After the game, Jordan Love and Jayden Reed used the same word to describe Kraft.

“He’s a dog, man,” Reed said. “I watch him every day, and he continues to make plays – the plays that I know he can make. Everybody knows he’s capable of making those plays. Everybody knows Tuck.”

Kraft won the game ball for his two-touchdown performance.

“I play every play the way I do because I love you guys,” Kraft said in the celebratory postgame locker room.

Asked about it, LaFleur on Monday said that mindset means “everything.”

“That’s the team-first mentality that we’re always trying to get guys of that character in here that love the game, that love to play for their brother next to him, and he’s embodied that,” LaFleur said. “When you do that, everybody’s happy for your success, as well.”

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