Packers: Tucker Kraft's message to coaches will have them smiling
Green Bay Packers tight end Tucker Kraft faces an urgent challenge entering the 2023 NFL season. Not only does he have to prove he can adapt to life in the pros like any other rookie, but he's also in a race with second-round draft pick Luke Musgrave. When the Packers took tight ends in consecutive […]
Green Bay Packers tight end Tucker Kraft faces an urgent challenge entering the 2023 NFL season. Not only does he have to prove he can adapt to life in the pros like any other rookie, but he's also in a race with second-round draft pick Luke Musgrave.
When the Packers took tight ends in consecutive rounds, it set the table for quite the position battle. Over the long run, it won't be about who adapts the quickest but about who is the best-finished product. As the 2023 NFL season approaches, however, quick adaptation will be key to getting snaps.
Kraft believes it's been an easier transition than the one he experienced from high school to college.
"I think it's an easier transition now than it was for me at first in college," Kraft told reporters earlier this week. "I kind of had to learn to play football all over again coming from the middle of nowhere."
On his way to Sunday-caliber football, Kraft acknowledges there's a massive difference in the details of things as well as in getting off the ball. That's where his focus has been in the offseason days in which no pads are allowed. How to recognize blocking duties and how they vary depending on mere inches. In his own words, he's trying to "get good at the things that the Packers are good at."
However, Kraft knows making a name for himself will be tough until the pads come on.
"I've always said to every coach that's ever had me that I'm a better player when the pads come on," said Kraft.
At 6-foot-5 and 254 pounds and an impressive 9.58 Relative Athletic Score, it's an unsurprising yet exciting quote from the rookie. You just know it's exactly what any football coach wants to hear from one of his guys.
But what made it even better is the fact that it was preceded by a careful explanation of why that's the case. Hearing it leaves no doubt the guy knows his craft. No pun intended.
"Practicing without pads on as a tight end is really difficult," explained the product out of South Dakota State. "We use our bodies in the pass game a lot, we extend arms running routes, we bang into people trying to play catch technique."
In the life of an NFL tight end, that's only half the battle. To get on the playing field, the Packers will need Kraft to be a willing and efficient blocker. There's no way of proving that properly until training camp when contact is a go.
"And then on line of scrimmage, we have to use physicality in the run game because we're usually smaller than the people that we're blocking," added the Packers' third-round draft pick. "So when you get the pads on, I think a lot of the techniques are going to be able to come along because we can run into people now, full speed."
The Packers' first training camp practice is scheduled for July 26th, which will be open to fans wanting to catch a glimpse of Kraft's physicality. But while he'll bring the intensity that's gotten him to the NFL, expect the young tight end to have his fun.
"I think it really just comes down to just taking a deep breath and having fun because we are playing a kids' game," he concluded before adding one big detail. "You know, just getting paid handsomely for it."
Featured image via Green Bay Packers' YouTube channel
