Tucker Kraft has already established himself as the Green Bay Packers number one tight end. The third-year man out of South Dakota State appears ready to take his game to the next level and reach Pro Bowl status. If Week 2’s performance against the Washington Commanders is any indication, Kraft may be there already and it’s time for the league to take notice.

Kraft enjoyed his first 100-yard receiving game last Thursday against Washington. He caught a team-leading six passes for 124 yards and a touchdown. That included a 57-yard pass from Jordan Love that was a key play for the Green Bay offense.

As a rookie, Kraft started as the team’s second-string tight end. He was selected in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft while the Packers also took Luke Musgrave in the second round. Musgrave won the job out of training camp and Kraft saw action mostly on special teams.

But when Musgrave went down with an injury midseason, Kraft took over as the starter and never looked back. He caught 31 passes as a rookie for 355 yards and two touchdowns. Last season, he started all 17 games and caught 50 passes for 707 yards and seven touchdowns.

By midseason in 2024, Love knew Kraft was one of the team’s best red zone targets and Kraft came through. This season, he has touchdown catches in both of the team’s first two games.

For Kraft, his ability to run effectively after the catch makes him a dangerous target. He can catch a checkdown pass three yards ahead of the line of scrimmage and turn it into a 12-yard gain. At 6’5” and 259 pounds, he is tough for defensive linemen to catch and difficult for linebackers or defensive backs to tackle one-on-one.

 “He’s a guy that approaches the game the right way,” head coach Matt LaFleur said of Kraft. “I can’t say enough great things about Tuck and just the growth we’ve seen from him from the time he got here. But it’s not only him on the football field. It’s every facet of life I would say. He’s a real leader for us.”

Kraft’s quarterback thinks he’s ready for a breakout season. “He’s very consistent right now. I don’t think it’s a secret for him to go out there and ball like he does,” Love added. “It’s something that we just have to keep building on with him, but Tuck is a guy who’s going to have a big year.”

Many experts have called Kraft, “George Kittle Light,” comparing him to the 49ers Pro Bowl tight end. But right now, Kraft is playing as well as anybody at the position.

“I think he’s one of the best that we have in this league,” safety Xavier McKinney said after the Packers win over the Commanders. “Today’s game pretty much showed it, but he does this, to me, every game. He can go out there and he can play as a receiver. He blocks his ass off. It’s really nothing that he doesn’t really do. He does everything well. He’s an all-around tight end.”

Kraft has already proven himself to be a team player. In Week 1 against Detroit, Kraft only caught two passes for 16 yards and a touchdown. While he didn’t have a dominant receiving day, he played an important role in the offense. Frequently, he was called on to chip Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson, one of the most dangerous pass rushers in the game. By helping to keep Hutchinson away from Love and giving his quarterback time to throw, Kraft caught fewer passes but helped the offense function at a high level.

Kraft is also unselfish. As long as the team wins and plays well, he doesn’t seem to need the individual accolades. “With all the playmakers we have on our offense, you might as well just call us a five-headed dragon,” Kraft said. “We have depth at wide receiver…Just a bunch of dawgs, man. And I’m happy they’re on my side.”

The Packers may not have a clear but wide receiver one right now. Jayden Reed and Christian Watson are out due to injury. Romeo Doubs appears to be more of a number two receiver and Dontayvion Wicks still needs to be more consistent. Rookie Matthew Golden has the potential to become a number one receiver, but he’s not there yet. But the Packers will be just fine if they continue to utilize a receiver by committee approach and add to the mix one of the better tight ends in the NFC right now. And the scary thing is, Kraft can continue to get better.