PFF mentions Packers' second-year receiving weapon as a breakout candidate

It's rare to see immediate contribution from rookie tight ends. After all, it's one of the most difficult positions to transition from college football to the NFL. Players have to learn basically every part of an offense — routes, pass blocking, and run blocking attributions.

But Luke Musgrave was a day 1 starter for the Green Bay Packers in 2023 after being a second-round pick, and he played well right away.

A lacerated kidney avoided a more notable rookie season, but he seems to be on the right track to be a really good player for Green Bay. And that's why PFF chose Musgrave as the Packers' breakout candidate in 2024.

"It's hard not to be extremely excited about the Packers' boatload of young receiving options, and Musgrave is verifiably part of that. He played in just 13 games because of a lacerated kidney, but he was elite at the end of 2023: his 91.9 receiving grade between Week 18 and the divisional round led all tight ends. Musgrave is a player to buy stock in entering 2024."

Musgrave played 11 games in 2023, but really had only nine starts. When he was back at the end of the season, Tucker Kraft had established himself as a useful starter as well. But even then, Musgrave finished his season with 34 receptions for 352 yards and a touchdown.

Extrapolating those numbers to a full 17-game season, Musgrave would have had 52 receptions for 544 yards — which would have easily broken the Packers rookie record for a tight end in history.

"If you go back and watch all five games over the break here, you watch how they've (the rookie tight ends) improved and it's been pretty good," Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said during last season. "You can see them taking steps forward, especially in the run game. So I'm excited about those guys and how they've progressed so far. Obviously as they just keep going we'll have a pretty good unit eventually."

Year 2

As every young tight end, Luke Musgrave can still improve a lot. For him, the blocking is probably an area where a leap in performance is attainable — and extremely important for the type of offense the Packers run under head coach Matt LaFleur.

Last year, Musgrave finished the season with a below average 45.7 pass blocking grade — much worse than everything else he did (64.2 receiving, 79.4 with drops, and 77.1 with fumbles).

The lack of ability to block is probably what made him lose snaps to Tucker Kraft by the end of the season.

"He's a really, really intelligent player," Matt LaFleur said of Musgrave last offseason. "If he makes a mistake, he hasn't made many of the same mistakes twice because he's super into it. Very intentional. Deliberate about his work. Invested. He continues to show progress every day."

But that might also be a part of future considerations. While Musgrave isn't a top blocker, they can use him in different ways.

Last season, the rookie played only 8% of his snaps as a pass blocker — which reduces his sample size, but at the same time shows us how the Packers themselves view him. In terms of alignment, Musgrave had 50.3% of his plays in-line, and 41% in the slot.