Packers TE Tucker Kraft: Can No. 3 Player in 2026 Prove He’s Not Delusional?

Packers On SI is counting down the Green Bay Packers’ top 25 players for the 2026 season. This series continues with our No. 3 player, tight end Tucker Kraft.

In his mind, Green Bay Packers tight end Tucker Kraft went out on top.

“I feel like I went out at as Tight End 1 in my opinion,” Kraft said last month of last year’s torn ACL. “Just the things that I do at the point of attack, where I’m at on any given play, I feel like I went out at the top.”

Best tight end in the NFL? That’s big talk, though the stats tell the story.

After last season’s Week 8 win at Pittsburgh in which Kraft completely dominated, the Packers had played seven games and had their bye. Among tight ends, Kraft was tied for ninth with 30 receptions, was third with 469 yards and was first with 15.6 yards per catch and tied for second with six touchdowns.

That put Kraft on pace for 1,139 yards and 13 touchdowns. In NFL history, only Rob Gronkowski (17 in 2011) and Jimmy Graham (16 in 2013) had more touchdown catches by a tight end. The pace for yards would have been 29th.

Why Tucker Kraft Is So Important

Kraft isn’t just some overgrown receiver who thrives only in the passing game. He’s a big-time point-of-attack blocker, as well, making him a threat on every play.

“I thought that at a combination of the do-it-all Y, which is me, that there wasn’t another guy in the league that was doing it as well as I was,” Kraft said. “Some people might think I’m delusional to say that, but every play I was either … I don’t know, the film is going to speak for itself. Outside zone, inside zone, screen game, down the field, as far as putting it all together, I felt like I was at a great spot.”

Green Bay Packers tight end Tucker Kraft (85) makes a catch for a touchdown against Detroit Lions safety Brian Branch. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Kraft was Green Bay’s best pass-catching threat last season. With a slimmed-down receiver corps leaving Kraft, Christian Watson, Jayden Reed and Matthew Golden as the proven threats in the passing game, Kraft’s importance has only increased.

The target count should increase, too, which means what Kraft was doing last season might only be the start.

In Packers history, Paul Coffman holds the tight end record with 814 receiving yards in 1983; Kraft was on pace to beat that by 325 yards. Jermichael Finley holds the record with 61 catches in 2012; Kraft was on pace to catch 78. Coffman (1983) and Robert Tonyan (2010) are tied for the record with 11 touchdowns. Kraft was on pace to beat that, too.

His performance against Pittsburgh, when he caught seven passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns, was legendary. It was the second-most receiving yards by a tight end in Packers history; Richard Rodgers’ 146 yards at Detroit in 2015 included the game-winning Hail Mary.

In the Pittsburgh game, Kraft became the first NFL tight end with seven-plus catches, 140-plus yards, two-plus touchdowns and at least 15 yards per target since Gronkowski in 2014.

If some targets for Kraft are good, more would be better.

Tucker Kraft’s Strengths and Weaknesses

Green Bay Packers tight end Tucker Kraft run after the catch at Arizona. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Kraft does everything at a high level, but what he does best is turn 1-yard passes into 10-yard gains.

Kraft completely destroyed the Steelers after the catch in that Week 8 game with 128 YAC. On yards after the catch alone, it was the third-most overall receiving yards by a tight end last season. The YAC count was the most by a tight end since 2018.

That gave Kraft a total of 339 for the season. That number alone would have put him eighth in total receiving yards by a tight end.

The question, of course, is whether that version of Kraft will show up this season. He says there’s no reason why that shouldn’t be Week 1, but ACL comebacks can be fickle.

“I want to just continue to be the same teammate, the leader that I was prior to my injury,” he said. “I’m not going to let this be a setback for me – just a bump in the road.”

There are no weaknesses in Kraft’s game. If you were to nitpick: Last season, 49 tight ends were targeted at least 30 times. Kraft had three drops, giving him a drop rate of 8.6 percent that was the 10th-highest.

What Happens If Tucker Kraft Gets Hurt

Well, we don’t need to “what if” this scenario. Basically, nothing good happens when he is hurt.

Including the Carolina game in which he was injured as well as the playoff game at Chicago, the Packers went 4-7 without Kraft in the lineup last season after a 5-1-1 start.

For his career, they are 8-2-1 when he has at least 55 receiving yards and 10-3 when he scores a touchdown.

Simply put, he is irreplaceable.

Luke Musgrave has had opportunities to earn more opportunities in the passing game but not taken advantage and Josh Whyle put up decent receiving numbers with the Titans in 2024, but there is no one capable of replacing Kraft in the passing game. And there’s certainly nobody with Kraft’s ability as a blocker.

Our Three Questions series continues at tight end, with a look at a few key issues ahead of Packers training camp. ⬇️https://t.co/RUAa5UZuuz
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) July 10, 2026

Why We Ranked Tucker Kraft Here

The offense could depend on Kraft’s ability to get back on the field for Week 1 and quickly become the all-around dominator he was last season. That might be the key to the entire season.

Presumably, a contract extension is on the horizon that will make him one of the highest-paid tight ends in the NFL – if not put him on top of that list. With his production on the field and his leadership off it, he really is a face-of-the-franchise type of player.

“I’d say early on the hardest part was I watched every game from the couch Week 8 and on last year,” Kraft said of the injury. “The hardest part for me is I’ve always been a leader with the way I do things physically, not necessarily with how I talk and present myself to the team in other settings.

“So, losing that ability to show the boys – this is how we do it, this is the physical standard, this is the precedent – I’d say that was the hardest part for me. Just not being in the game, but we’re past that now and I’ll just blink and camp will be here soon.”

Every year, I rank every player on the Packers roster based on talent, importance, salary etc. I will again this year, too.

For now, let's cut right to the chase. Here is a quick-hitting look at the 2⃣5⃣ most important players for the 2026 season.⬇️https://t.co/ezDAkl7vmd
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) June 17, 2026

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