It's almost training camp time for the Green Bay Packers, so it's time to evaluate each position group on the roster.

Tight ends

The Green Bay Packers tried to find a good tight end for years. They signed Jared Cook, Martellus Bennett, but nothing since Jermichael Finley had truly and consistently worked in the Aaron Rodgers era. So last year, general manager Brian Gutekunst decided to change his approach. Significantly.

The Packers allowed Robert Tonyan and Marcedes Lewis to walk in free agency (both ended up signing with the Chicago Bears last year), and went to the draft to rebuild the room.

Even knowing how difficult and rare it is for tight ends to make an impact as rookies, Gutekunst took Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft on day 2. Both fought through the initial hurdles and ended up as foundational pieces of how the offense operated over different stretches of last season.

The top guys

Musgrave was a starter from day 1, something unusual for tight ends. But he's not your usual tight end.

"He's different. He's a big, long target," head coach Matt LaFleur said last offseason. "He's super into it, very intentional and deliberate about his work. Invested. He continues to show progress every day and, certainly, he does have an elite trait that he can flat fly."

Musgrave was on his way to break the Packers' franchise record for receiving yardage for a rookie tight end when a lacerated kidney happened and affected his season.

For Musgrave and for the team's short-term outlook, it was an awful event. But it also opened the opportunity for Tucker Kraft to show he could be an impactful player too. Kraft is not the receiver Musgrave can be, but he adds different elements to the offense as a better in-line blocker.

"Once he started figuring it out, then you could see, 'OK, this guy has got a lot of talent.' A credit to him," said offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich. "I don't know if there's a guy that works harder behind the scenes than him with just how he prepares. He's in the film room, he's asking (tight ends) coach (John) Dunn questions all the time, so he's one of those kids that it's just super important to and he really, really prepares hard.

Maybe, with both healthy and ready to take a step forward in year 2, fans can see a dose of two-tight end sets.

"Tight ends are great weapons, because they can wear a bunch of different hats and defenses have to match that," said tight ends coach John Dunn. "I think it will be fun to see that."

Other pieces

The Packers were happy with Musgrave and Kraft, but it doesn't mean Gutekunst wouldn't be willing to add more young pieces if an opportunity presented itself. And it did when the Minnesota Vikings waived undrafted rookie Ben Sims after training camp last year. The Packers claimed him off waivers, and he became an intriguing developmental piece.

Sims didn't have much space considering how well the players ahead of him on the depth chart performed, but he did play well whenever his number was called — which included a touchdown reception against the Kansas City Chiefs.

The tight end room also has Tyler Davis, whom the Packers' coaching staff seems to love. He tore his ACL in preseason last year, but now he's healthy again, and Green Bay sees him as a core special teamer.

On the bottom of the roster, Joel Wilson, who finished last season on the practice squad, and undrafted rookie Messiah Swinson fight for a PS spot.

Fullback

The Packers haven't had a true fullback for some time, as Matt LaFleur likes to use tight ends as hybrid pieces. It's a different reality of when Mike McCarthy was the head coach — players like John Kuhn and Aaron Ripkowski were more running back than tight ends.

Over the last few years, Josiah Deguara had that role. But now he left in free agency, signing with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the opportunity has arisen for Henry Pearson.

Undrafted last year, Pearson spent his entire rookie season on the practice squad, being elevated twice. In the games against the Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs in weeks 12 and 13, the rookie combined for 11 offensive snaps and 23 special teams snaps.

It's not a shiny role, but Henry Pearson can certainly make the most out of it for a cheap price.

Even after impressive rookie season, Packers’ tight end will fight for a bigger role

Packers rookie report card: Luke Musgrave