It's only natural for a fanbase to be concerned about the strength and performance of a player coming off a devastating ACL tear, but Green Bay Packers tight end Tucker Kraft put those concerns to rest swiftly in his return against the Minnesota Vikings. The 25-year-old finished the game catching three of his six targets for 65 yards, ranking third on the team in total yards while leading his position group in snap percentage.
Fresh off a contract extension that, with incentives, could make him the highest-paid tight end in the NFL, Kraft ran crisp routes, showed off his stellar catch radius, and shut down concerns that he wouldn't be as explosive by forcing the hand of the Packers' coaching staff in his first game back.
According to head coach Matt LaFleur, the team wanted to be conservative with Kraft's usage, easing him back into game action by not putting too much pressure on him too early. They were concerned he'd look fatigued, but Kraft proved quite the opposite with his performance in an ugly loss.
"I thought he did a great job. That was probably five more snaps than anybody in the building wanted him to go," LaFleur said. "We were gonna cap him at 40, and somehow, [Packers TE Coach] John Dunn got it done to get five more snaps out of him."
LaFleur also credited the Packers' training and medical staff for helping Kraft get back into playing shape so quickly after his rehab, although most of that credit belongs to the fiery pass-catcher himself, who's been telling us all offseason that he'd look like this when the time came.
Tucker Kraft is defying expectations and setting himself up for a legendary run as one of the Green Bay Packers' top offensive weapons.
As soon as the Josh Jacobs situation came to light, it became clear that Green Bay would need to lean into a pass-heavy offensive game plan for the 2026 season. That was backed up by the fact that Green Bay had almost twice as many pass attempts as they did rushes in Week 1, and only averaged 3.1 yards per carry on 21 attempts in the loss.
This horrid collapse against a middle-of-the-pack Vikings team led by Carson Wentz was a wake-up call for the Packers in many ways, and offensively, it reaffirmed the expectation that this team will live and die by its passing attack. That means Kraft won't have much time to adapt back to NFL pace or physicality, and needs to be ready for full utilization as early as Week 2.
If his showing in the first game of the season and his return from injury were any indication, Tucker Kraft is not only willing to embrace the challenge and physically prepared for it, but is excited by the opportunity to prove that he's worth every penny of his massive contract, and all the belief that Packers fans put behind him in his rehabilitation over the last year.
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