Tucker Kraft's Injury Update Lends Great Assurance to Fantasy Football Drafters
Tucker Kraft has been fueling many conversations in the fantasy football space. The Packers tight end has been on track to contend for TE1 prior to his midseason injury last season. Upon his return, expectations about what Kraft will become have varied. Will he play at 100% volume? How about 100% of health? These are factors to consider as we get to the bottom of this reality.
Fantasy Football Outlook
A 100% healthy Kraft should finish top-4 at the tight end position. He was T-2 in tight end points per game in 2025. Despite falling 3.9 points per game short of Trey McBride, it is not impossible that Kraft could climb to TE1. A McBride regression is to be expected, as Jacoby Brissett was passing for over 260 yards per game, and he most definitely will not repeat that in 2025.
Brissett's yards per game projection is 212.5.
The latest comments from Kraft do create a pause for fantasy managers. As seen below, Kraft is likely to see a limitation on his snaps through October.
Tucker Kraft; “They’re going to take into account my rep range probably until halfway through the season, and then they’re going to just pat me on the ass and send me out there and send me to the wolves.” pic.twitter.com/5NtBqh0Cea
— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) August 16, 2026
While fantasy managers do pause at this statement, it might be overplayed. Matt LaFleur is certainly going to scheme up plays for Kraft when he is on the field. This is a tight end who averaged 5.0 targets per game, but more importantly, caught 80% of those passes in 2025. This led to very high utilization, with Kraft scoring 6 touchdowns over his 8 games and ranking No. 1 in tight end yards per reception (15.3).
#Packers Tucker Kraft - Lean heavily toward playing Wk 1 + practicing in ~2 wks. Age 25 + 96th %ile athlete predict recovery of ~90% pre-injury level Wk 8+#Chiefs Patrick Mahomes - Likely playing Wk 1. Data + comments suggest dip in rushing attempts + output until ~Dec
— Deepak Chona, MD. SMA (@SportMDAnalysis) August 2, 2026
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Despite snap management for Kraft, we hardly reduced his season-long projection. Simply put, Kraft will play fewer snaps, which means nothing to the offense. This means less blocking and fewer schemed-up "hot routes" for guys like Christian Watson and Jayden Reed when Kraft is on the field.
Our numbers have Kraft as the TE5 in standard scoring leagues and the TE4 in PPR. He plans to span 51.7 yards per game over 17 total games. Kraft is likely to play closer to 60 yards per game over the second half of the season. He expects to then score 8.5 touchdowns and do so on 3.7 receptions per game, averaging over 4.0 per game in the second half of the season.
In average draft position, Kraft is currently being taken as the TE5 in fantasy football. His total ADP is around pick No. 75, the 7th round. He is a low-risk player, despite his torn ACL comeback, and the market is very sharp at the moment.
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Thomas Carelli is a sportswriter based on Northern New Jersey. He is a massive New York Jets and Mets fan, but that is not where is sports fandom stops. He loves to watch and play golf, all things football, baseball, and much more. If he can watch it, he will. Thomas graduated from William Paterson University in 2018 with a Bachelor's Degree in Sport Management. He spent 4 years working at a local golf course, volunteered past PGA events, and spent some part-time experience with the New York Jets events team. His passions for sport runs deep and his articles show for it.