The Green Bay Packers selected South Dakota State tight end Tucker Kraft in the third round of this year’s draft. The addition of Kraft will provide this Packers offense with some much-needed yards after the catch (YAC) ability at the tight end position.
During the 2022 season, Kraft dealt with some injuries and had just 29 targets, however, on his receptions, he averaged a whopping 8.0 yards after the catch. To put that into perspective, at the FBS level, this would’ve been tied for the highest rate in all of college football among tight ends. Also of note, in just 21 receptions, Kraft forced nine missed tackles.
For a larger sample size, during the 2021 season, Kraft had 59 receptions and averaged 5.8 yards after the catch, totaling 345 yards after the catch. Again, for reference, this would have been the sixth-highest total at the FBS level that season.
In part, Kraft’s dynamic ability with the ball in his hands comes from his athleticism. In what was a very deep and athletic tight end class, Kraft posted the fifth highest Relative Athletic Score (RAS) of the entire group at 9.68. But on top of that, he brings physicality to the tight end position as well, and isn’t afraid to run through defenders either.
“I will say, Tucker is very good with the ball in his hands after the catch,” said Brian Gutekunst after Day 2 of the draft. “He’s a really good basketball player coming out of high school. I think he has really good balance and strength to break tackles to keep himself alive.”
Picking up yards after the catch was an element that the Packers’ tight end room was missing during the 2022 season. Overall, Robert Tonyan average just 8.9 yards per catch, which ranked 34th out of 43 eligible tight ends. His average of 4.6 yards after the catch was around the middle of the pack, ranking 22nd according to PFF, but to a degree, that was also a product of Matt LaFleur being able to get Tonyan the ball in space. It wasn’t often that Tonyan was making defenders miss in the open field. On 53 receptions, he broke just three tackles.
Josiah Deguara, and Marcedes Lewis, meanwhile, combined for just 19 receptions throughout the entire 2022 season. Tonyan was the only true pass-catching threat at the position, and although reliable, he was limited.
Although Kraft’s YAC ability is perhaps one of the more noticeable aspects of his game, Gutekunst routinely complemented Kraft, as well as Luke Musgrave, and his ability to be an “all-around” tight end who impacts both the passing game and the run game. Having this skill set will help open up the playbook for LaFleur as that versatility at the tight end position will add some unpredictability which ultimately will help keep defenses off-balance.
As I wrote about recently, the transition from college to the NFL for tight ends is a very challenging one due to all of the responsibilities that come with this role. But with LaFleur’s ability to scheme players open and Kraft’s ability to line up in the slot where he can be a mismatch, the opportunity to get him the ball quickly and in space should result in some easy completions for Jordan Love and potentially explosive plays for the offense.
