When it was announced that standout tight end Tucker Kraft would miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL, Green Bay Packers fans wondered if the team would make a move ahead of the trade deadline for a replacement.
The Packers decided against making a trade and instead stuck with their in-house options, which included former second-round pick Luke Musgrave. For Musgrave, who has had a roller coaster ride to start his NFL career, this is a good chance for him to show the fans, but also the organization, that he’s not a bust and can be a quality starting NFL tight end.
However, in Sunday’s road game against the New York Giants, Musgrave didn’t play like an adequate starting tight end, giving the Packers more than enough reasons to give up on him.
Luke Musgrave Puts Himself on Hot Seat in Week 11 Win vs. Giants
Against the Giants, the 25-year-old tight end could not exploit a Giants’ defense that gave up four receptions (four targets) for 55 yards to Chicago Bears rookie tight end Colston Loveland in Week 10.
In fact, Musgrave could only muster one catch (one target) for minus-1 yards, which is coming off the heels of a quiet Week 10 outing where he had three receptions (three targets) for 23 yards against the Philadelphia Eagles. He's now up to an uninspiring 13-110-0 stat line in 10 games this season.
And then to make matters worse, Musgrave had a fumble in the first quarter (h/t @nickfalato), but thankfully, it did not come back to haunt the Packers as the ball rolled out of bounds. The veteran TE almost got pinged for another fumble in the second quarter, which sent Packers fans into a frenzy. However, the call got overturned.
While those miscues didn’t hurt Green Bay, it doesn’t help that Musgrave had the same amount of first-half offensive snaps (16) as John FitzPatrick, while Josh Whyle, who was called up from the practice squad in Week 10, had seven, per Justis Mosqueda of Acme Packing Co. Here's how the TE snap share shook out once the game was over:
- Musgraves (19)
- Whyle (20)
- Fitzpatrick (35)
Speaking of FitzPatrick and Whyle, they didn’t have great games offensively on Sunday, but were somewhat more productive than Musgrave. Fitzpatrick had one reception (one target) for five yards, while Whyle had a two-yard touchdown.
Even though the Packers ended up winning on Sunday, head coach Matt LaFleur has to really think about Musgrave’s role in this offense going forward. While the Packers have the WR depth to fill Kraft’s loss, the hope was that Musgrave would assert himself.
That has not happened, and with each passing week, the Packers look foolish for not trying to go after David Njoku or Chig Okonkwo at the trade deadline earlier this month. Musgrave is clearly not the answer, which Packers fans already know. The question is, do LaFleur and general manager Brian Gutekunst realize that?
Even if they do, it might already be too late.