Last year, the Green Bay Packers anxiously awaited the return of Christian Watson, one of Jordan Love‘s top weapons who had suffered a torn ACL the year prior. Fast forward to this offseason, and the Packers are in a similar situation with Tucker Kraft.
Even with Tucker Kraft set to return from an ACL tear, are people outside Green Bay overlooking him?
Kraft has been adamant on a couple of occasions this offseason that he expects to return and be the same tight end he was before the injury.
I’m not really buying into the people come back off an injury and aren’t the same. People come back off their injury, if you’re not coming back off your injury the same, then what are you doing? What were you doing your entire rehab?
Age certainly plays in his favor. Kraft is only 25 and entering the prime of his career. If there are parallels to be drawn from Watson going through the same injury, No. 9 came back last year and looked every bit as explosive and dynamic as he did before his ACL injury.
Despite this and perhaps other factors, there seems to be skepticism about where Kraft belongs in the tight end hierarchy.
Some polls that must exists for the purposes of trolling don’t even have Kraft in the top 10. Others that are far more credible, like ESPN’s, which gathers its votes from coaches, scouts, and executives, landed Kraft at No. 6. However, within that voting, there was at least one, and likely multiple, voters who had Kraft unranked, meaning outside the top 10.
Kraft was on pace to shatter some single-season franchise marks a year ago before his injury against the Carolina Panthers in November. His dual facility as a formidable receiver and one of the best blocking tight ends in the league had him on a fast track to the top of these rankings.
If the injury is what is causing some to pause, that’s somewhat fair. However, in the same ESPN ranking, George Kittle ranks No. 3 overall, and he’ll be coming off a torn Achilles suffered in the playoffs, much later than Kraft’s injury.
Kittle’s resumé speaks for itself. He’s one of the best, if not the best, tight ends in all of football. However, if those on the outside are counting Kraft’s injury as a knock against him, why isn’t that the case for other players at the same position?
The other factor here is the emergence of the position as a whole.
The Las Vegas Raiders hit a home run with Brock Bowers, while the Arizona Cardinals did the same with Trey McBride. In last year’s draft alone, the Indianapolis Colts took Tyler Warren in the first round, and before that, the Chicago Bears selected Colston Loveland. Both already appear to be headed towards stardom. As fate would have it, in the ESPN poll, they are split on each side of Kraft. Warren checked in at No. 5 in the rankings while Loveland is at No. 7.
It would be hard to find a time when the tight end position has been booming more than it has over the last couple of years, even as we enter 2026.
Being an all-around tight end like Kittle and Kraft emphasizes that point.
However, Warren and Loveland aren’t in the same league when it comes to pass and run blocking, which suggests Kraft’s injury is the main reason he’s so low on some of these lists.
Kraft can silence the doubters by returning to form in 2026, and if his timeline goes the way he expects, he’ll be ready for Week 1.
I’m doing good. I’m doing better than expected. I would really attribute it to the time and the commitment I put into my rehabilitation early on the first three months. That really has catapulted me to where I am now. I feel great. My quad looks great. Swelling is minimal to none. No like weird pains and aches coming out of my treatment and my trainings, so we’re really excited to get this ball rolling and we’re going to take off.
When an athlete misses significant time due to injury, it’s easy to forget about how good they are. Someone fills in, and others in that given league playing the same spot start to steal the spotlight. Those who have forgotten about Kraft, or those who are overlooking him, could be the same ones crawling back to praise him if he looks anything like the tight end we saw in the first half of 2025.
Watson did it last year, and the Packers will hope Tucker Kraft checks that box this year. If he does, he’ll be comfortably ranked in the top 10 of tight ends in the league and on a fast track to crack the top 5.
