The Green Bay Packers might be only two sessions into organized team acitivities, but coach Matt LaFleur can already tell that in rookie Luke Musgrave, he has a potentially extraordinary type of talent on board at the tight end position.
“He is different,” LaFleur said after Wednesday’s practice.
Musgrave was on the field and working during the voluntary session Wednesday. The rookie was on the receiving end of one of Jordan Love’s best plays of practice when he beat Tarvarius Moore for a big play in the middle of the field.
LaFleur pointed to Musgrave’s intelligence and speed as defining characteristics of the Packers’ second-round pick.
“He’s a really, really intelligent player,” LaFleur said. “If he makes a mistake, he hasn’t made many of the same mistakes twice because he’s super into it. Very intentional. Deliberate about his work. Invested. He continues to show progress every day.”
Musgrave is the son of a college quarterback and the nephew of Bill Musgrave, an NFL quarterback and long-time football coach. Quickly grasping concepts and responsibilities is vital for rookies, especially at a position like tight end where so much is asked as both a blocker in the run game and a receiver in the passing game. In fact, LaFleur said tight ends have the second most responsibility on the offense behind only quarterbacks.
Being able to run like Musgrave will help create opportunities in the passing game. In fact, he could be the tight end version of Christian Watson in 2023.
“Certainly, he does have an elite trait that he can flat fly. And he’s a big, long target,” LaFleur said. “We’re really excited about him and the progress he’s made up to this point, and we have to keep pushing him.”
Musgrave (6-6, 253) ran the 40-yard dash in 4.61 seconds at the combine, good for the fourth-best time among tight ends. He was also the seventh-fastest player overall and fastest tight end clocked by GPS at the Senior Bowl. Straight-line speed can be a game-breaking asset, especially for a tight end with the kind of length, short-area explosiveness and fluidity of body movements that Musgrave possesses.
Like all rookies, patience will be required, and the Packers are trying to find the right balance for developing a talented young player like Musgrave at a difficult and demanding position. But the right sets of traits are in place. Mixing obvious talent, football intelligence and elite speed can be a dangerous combination.
