Green Bay Packers: New Starting Tight End Emerges For Team (Report)

Green Bay Packers: Over the last three decades the Packers have typically had a pretty lethal aerial assault year in and year out.  Aaron Rodgers and Brett Favre have certainly been the center point of those attacks, however, the Packers have certainly had a number of outstanding wide receivers to boot.

One thing they have lacked consistently?  A quality tight end to go with it.  Since 2000, Bubba Franks and Jermichael Finley seem to be the only two names that come to mind who provided a sustained threat at the position.  However, that could change for the 2023 Packers team.

Green Bay Packers Tight End Luke Musgrave Separating Himself From The Rest

Matt Schneidman of The Athletic highlighted how Luke Musgrave is turning heads at Packers practices as of late:

Rookie tight end Luke Musgrave is a problem in these drills. He stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 253 pounds, per the team website, and can run like a gazelle (for a tight end).

His contested catch ability stands out, a trait he showcased on an impressive grab over the middle with safety Darnell Savage Jr. draped over him. Musgrave later hauled in a deep ball over the middle with rookie safety Anthony Johnson Jr. in coverage.

Musgrave, the 42nd pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, was the fourth tight end off the board. Despite playing in only two games last season at Oregon State due to a knee injury. However, a strong pre-draft process and his tape when healthy sold the Packers on the 6-foot-6 tight end’s upside.

He was clocked at 20.05 mph at the Senior Bowl, per Dane Brugler, the fastest max play speed ever recorded for a tight end and he did it at 255 pounds.  After a strong performance at the NFL Combine, he posted a 9.78 Relative Athletic Score with similar athletic scores to Travis Kelce and Greg Olsen coming out of college.

Luke Musgrave Has Been Showing Out For Some Time Now

Luke Musgrave has drawn the attention of the fans, media, and coaches since the first day he stepped on the practice field. Many members of the media who were in attendance during OTAs shared video footage of Musgrave. While the team was not yet practicing in pads, his size, speed, and pass catching abilities created a level of excitement on social media.

Since the start of off-season programs, Musgrave has been working with the starting offense. He is going to play a big role right away, bringing a big play element to the tight end position, which will also help create opportunities for others in the offense by forcing the defense to create better spacing along with the attention Musgrave draws.

Hopefully, as we see Musgrave improve as a blocker, it will add some more unpredictability to the Green Bay Packers offense. When a tight end can impact both the running and passing games, defenses are left guessing, unable to decipher pre-snap what that player’s role will be on a specific play. It also allows the offense to run many plays from just a few personnel groupings, helping to create mismatches that can be exploited.