The Other Guys: Luke Musgrave
Can the Packers get a long awaited boost at tight end?
By Kalani Jones
In sticking with our theme of exploring the aspects of the Packers roster that have been a bit… disappointing to begin their career, my “The Other Guys” series rolls on. Previous iterations have covered Marshawn Lloyd and Ty'Ron Hopper, as the elements that could lift the roster into the place where its potential could really lie.
This week’s article covers a player who is a little different, because he isn’t as much of a mystery box as the other two. He hasn’t really been buried on the depth chart or just missed the field entirely, as Lloyd and Hopper have. In fact, he’s played over a thousand snaps for the Packers already.
Today’s article is focused on Luke Musgrave, the fourth year man out of Oregon State.
Musgrave was selected in the second round of the 2022 draft, a round before the Packers took the real talent in Tucker Kraft. Looking back, it’s surprising that events played out that way, but that’s really just hindsight talking. Musgrave was a highly regarded prospect when he was coming out of college that year. It’s probably no surprise for a Packers selection, but Musgrave athleticism was a major factor in that. He was awarded a 9.78 RAS score that year, combining elite speed and explosion grades with a 6’6” 253lb frame. His 1.54 second 10 yard split indicated explosive acceleration out of his stance as well.
All the buzz in the run up to the draft was mostly concerned with Musgrave’s exciting size-speed combination, but he had his share of fans when it came to other parts of his game as well. He has shown off the ability as a route runner to create separation, to avoid tackles in the open field, and could block well enough.
But you can bet he had his detractors as well. According to those same pre-draft scouting reports, Musgrave was eager to rely on his body to catch passes (2-9 touchdown to drop ratio in college), needed to add weight to his frame to become an NFL level blocker, not to mention some injury concerns due to a left knee injury in his final season. This quote from Pro Football Focus’s profile, I think, really sets the stage on the story that is Luke Musgrave: “Musgrave is a tremendous athlete, but his collegiate career has been littered with bad luck that has kept evaluators from seeing his best for any length of time.”
Now, when Musgrave and Kraft were drafted by the Packers in 2022, Musgrave was regarded as being more pro-ready, and so it was he who started the season at the top of the depth chart. Musgrave ended up playing about 500 snaps for the Packers in his rookie year, the most of his young career, and the most productive as well. Despite missing six games with a lacerated kidney, he finished with 40 receptions, 418 yards and two touchdowns. Enough to light the world on fire? No. But it was a promising start, especially once you factored in that his injury allowed Tucker Kraft some room to grow and develop. The Packers had two promising tight ends to enter the future with! What could go wrong?
But 2024 ended up being nothing short of a disaster for Musgrave. Musgrave tore a ligament in his knee in week four, an injury he initially tried to play through but ultimately sidelined him for eleven games. What’s important to note however, is that injury did not exactly interrupt a major breakout. Through those first four games, he had compiled only 21 yards and no touchdowns. His return in week 16, through the end of the season, yielded only 23 additional yards, for a season long total of 45 yards, 0 touchdowns. 2025 was certainly healthier for Musgrave, but no more impressive at 261 yards and 0 touchdowns.
I don’t mean to downplay the personal effects that his struggles with injury have had on Musgrave, nor do I mean to imply that those injuries are his fault. It’s the NFL, and the injury bug is just going to bite sometimes, and that’s the unfortunate truth. It does, however, confirm a few of the fears that some had on him before he was drafted.
Let's visit some of the others. It’s a well known meme at this point that Musgrave just can’t run with the ball in his hands. It’s been around since his rookie year, even to the point where MLF made a joke about it after the Cowboys playoff win. But, how founded is that reputation? In his rookie season, he actually gained about half of his total yards after the catch, 205 out of 418. He had a 5.1 YAC per reception average, good enough to be tied for 50th in the league that season.
Since then? It hasn’t been great. He had only 19 yards of YAC in 2024 and 78 in 2025.
That drop to touchdown ratio that we talked about not being great in college? Consider it not great in the NFL either. Across three years, he’s had three drops, but only two touchdowns, meaning another negative ratio.
Musgrave never developed into an NFL level blocker either, which has certainly been a major factor in his disappointing career. Not only from an actual on-the-field perspective (majorly negative grades from PFF in blocking each year of his career), but just from a getting-on-the-field-at-all perspective. As they say, “no block, no rock”.
And yet, despite the extremely rocky beginning to his career, the Packers still have something of a lottery ticket in him. He’s still only 25 years old, playing a position that can be extremely difficult to transition to the NFL in. He’s still got the speed and size that made him so intriguing in the first place.
In a year where the Packers are going to be in search of major playmakers all across the offense, the tight end room looks especially thin. Tucker Kraft should be good to go before the regular season begins, but it’d be foolish to expect him to be at 100%, especially for the first month or so. Musgrave has a major opportunity to impact the offense, especially then.
Then there’s the rise of multiple tight end sets that we’ve seen around the league, that are so useful in manipulating defenses into advantageous looks. In order to really take advantage of those formations though, you’ve got to have, well, multiple tight ends that are worthy of the defense’s attention. Musgrave’s development could be a factor there too.
Something that I’d like to see the Packers do with Musgrave, and something that I think could cater to his skills a bit better, would be to get him split out from the formation a bit more, instead of being a traditional inline tight end. Over the course of his career, the inline snap count is way too high, in my opinion. His rookie season was 322 inline snaps to 179 out wide, 2024 was 115 to 42, and this past season saw a 352 to 130 ratio. I’d really like to see that become almost a 50-50 split. The Packers might not have the tight end depth to really spare the bodies on the line, but we can hope right?
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Co-Owner of the thirteen time world champion Green Bay Packers. Sometimes I write about them. Follow me on Twitter at https://x.com/kjones_in_co and on Substack for film breakdowns!
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Comments (50)
Cheezehead72
June 01, 2026 at 06:04 am
Yes in a perfect world it would be nice to have the resources to split him out more if that is where we get better results from him but the NFL is not perfect. He is a TE. If he cannot block well he needs to figure it out and start blocking. If he does not improve his blocking and cannot run after the catch he needs to be let go after the season. If by chance we have enough quality TEs by the trade deadline trade him for anything you can get but I do not see that happening.
A TE that does not block is just a big slow receiver. A reciever who does not get YACs is a liability.
Coldworld
June 01, 2026 at 09:30 am
He can block at a Lazard/Tonyan type level (good for a WR) but as a TE he’s too high cut and does not have the balance needed (quite obviously) and thus is not good enough and may never be, despite being willing. Yet we insist on pretending he is, not using him as those were used, or in fact how we used him as a rookie for the most part.
He’s a big WR who is better in a straight line. So play him as that (which may not be necessary this year with Williams, but I’d argue we needed until now) or in formations where there’s another protector and use an appropriate route tree.
The problem is we do have Brooks as a protector but we don’t have a true lead blocking back or a third TE who can block and Kraft is a bigger threat offensively when he’s out there. Apart from a surprise wrinkle in 2 TE sets, Musgrave needs to be paired with a FB or a genuine blocker and used as a weapon up the seam. LaFleur has never showed the ability to realize that.
Musgrave with another coach could be a weapon as well as Kraft, but not the same type at all. For that reason I’d trade him to a team that recognizes that and recoup some value I don’t think LaFleur will ever unlock. We should go all out to find a really good block first TE to improve output from Kraft, Love and the running game. It’s been painfully obvious for seasons.
Bitternotsour
June 01, 2026 at 10:13 am
t\To call him a big, slow receiver is to not understand how fast he is or at least was. This is a disconnect between the personnel people and the coaching staff. Gutekunst handed LaFleur a really fast standard-bred, and LaFleur has committed to making him into a draft horse. He should be stretching the seam, not curling off. I won't give a shit if he falls down after contact after he catches the 20-yard targets he should be getting.
golfpacker61
June 01, 2026 at 11:18 am
Musgrave ran a 4.61 40 at the 2023 combine. That isn't super fast, even at his size.
Coldworld
June 01, 2026 at 11:43 am
I disagree on that strongly, particularly with a 1.54 10 yards. He’s 253 pounds and 6’6”. 4.61 is fast—21 miles per hour, but that 10 yards is freakish for that size. It tied the best for a TE in his draft class and is within the top 2 percent ever recorded at the combine for a TE, including much smaller ones. His over all 40 is in the top 6% ever run.
In fact, the only similar sized TE to have significantly beaten the 40 time and bettered the 10 yards was Vernon Davis (5 pounds lighter and 3 inches shorter). Kittle did beat his 40 but had a slower 10.
Musgrave is a potential weapon and is genuinely exceptionally fast for his size even among elite athletes at his position, but he’s one that has limitations. He’s high cut and linear and does not have great balance. He’s a target to get deep linearly or hold up intermediately fast. We use him far more in ways that stress his limitations not his strengths. That’s completely on LaFleur.
LambeauPlain
June 01, 2026 at 02:14 pm
4.6 is plenty fast for a TE with his size, Golf.
golfpacker61
June 01, 2026 at 04:48 pm
I didn't say 4.61 wasn't fast, I said it's not super fast. That is a decent time for a big man. But not unheard of, yes his 10 yard split is great but what has he accomplished with it? Not much! Musgrave is an underachieving NFL player, very similar to Van Ness.
Packers0808
June 01, 2026 at 06:36 am
My guess this practice season is a make or breaks time for Musgrave. Wonder if the Packers will even give him the season to show his worth especially if Tucker is healthy!
TKWorldWide
June 01, 2026 at 06:39 am
Very disappointing career so far. Has he shown what he is capable of by this point? Or can he still improve? And regarding blocking: why can’t he at least “occupy” a defender? So maybe he doesn’t have the strength to knock someone back off the line, but I’d think by now he could’ve avoided being a total liability.
I would hope in Kraft’s absence he makes the most of his opportunity. But I’m not optimistic. And I would really like to be proven wrong.
lou
June 01, 2026 at 08:36 am
Agree with your comments, he has certainly had enough opportunities. He seems to lack balance as a receiver and his YAC total shows that. You would think he would see the hand writing on the wall that his ticket to the roster is to stick his nose in there and become a better blocker but that has not been the case. I was really excited when he was drafted and they talked about him running the seam to open the offense up like Keith Jackson did but then he went down with a serious injury and it never materialized. Hopefully Kraft who can do it all is 100% and we can add a solid blocking TE prior to the season opener.
golfpacker61
June 01, 2026 at 04:51 pm
Good points Lou, and the comments that Musgrave doesn't take practice seriously is bad news. You would think someone has told him if he becomes a better blocker he could see $8-10 million per year on his next contract.
Guam
June 01, 2026 at 07:00 am
I would feel better about Musgrave's chance to contribute if he had flashed a few times in the prior three years, but even when he was healthy he was nondescript on the field. I can't remember a single game where he stood out as a significant contributor. And then this spring when his position coach was asked what Musgrave needed to do to improve, the coach replied "practice habits". A rising fourth year pro who still hasn't learned good practice habits is not likely to ever be a shining star for the Packers. I suspect Musgrave's Packer career is going to end with a whimper this year.
TKWorldWide
June 01, 2026 at 08:00 am
“Practice habits” is a pretty damning statement. Ugh.
LeotisHarris
June 01, 2026 at 08:23 am
Yeah, that stings. I think bns is correct when he points to the impact injuries, particularly the lacerated kidney had on Musgrave. But, to not bring it every day in practice is something that should hasten your movement toward the exit.
I think Luke would be more comfortable in a different line of work.
LambeauPlain
June 01, 2026 at 02:24 pm
Agree Leotis...I too believe the lacerated kidney (after his severe knee injury last year in college) made a noticeable change in Musgrave...making him play more timid.
Look at Tucker play. He plays like a hungry, roving lion in how he blocks and runs after the catch. Compare him to Musgrave after the catch. When he sees an approaching tackler, he goes into crouch mode. Kraft looks to run him over.
When blocking, the best Luke does is get in the way. Tucker hunts and hammers, often making multiple blocks until the whistle.
Expect Josh Whyle could replace Musgrave as the #2 TE...if the coaches allow it.
Packers0808
June 01, 2026 at 03:10 pm
Will Kraft play timid now after his knee injury?
Coldworld
June 01, 2026 at 09:37 am
Guam, he was flashing as a rookie. He tied Bubba Franks for the then record for receptions by a rookie TE in Green Bay in 11 games before the lacerated kidney. In those games we seemed to accept he wasn’t a good blocker and used Deguara and Sims for that (neither excelled admittedly).
The issue I have is that we’ve never used him in the same way since, even when Kraft is unavailable. LaFleur tries to make every TE play like Kraft regardless of their strengths and weaknesses and it’s not a successful approach.
Bitternotsour
June 01, 2026 at 10:15 am
exactly
Savage57
June 01, 2026 at 07:01 am
You couldn't have picked a better "other guy", because we were all thinking he was gonna be "the guy" when he came in.
I don't know if it was the jump to the NFL, the way the Packers used him, or just plain, dumb bad luck, but nothings meshed for Musgrave.
Yet.
Hopefully.
golfpacker61
June 01, 2026 at 11:24 am
Musgrave was drafted so high strictly on potential and measureables. It sure wasn't based on production because he had very little in college. And his health was questionable too, a lot of missed games in college.
At this point he isn't much better than Whyle and I would venture Whyle is a better blocker, he was at Cincinnati.
LambeauPlain
June 01, 2026 at 02:29 pm
Yep. Whyle was a big part of Fickell's top teams at Cincinnati.
NFLfan
June 01, 2026 at 07:22 am
Keeping this guy on the field for his fourth year is more about saving face for Gutekunst, just like LVN, Savage, Hopper and more.
Bitternotsour
June 01, 2026 at 10:17 am
There you go again thinking that you understand something. Gutekunst doesn't have to "save face" he is contracted, compensated and extremely secure. Try harder.
NFLfan
June 01, 2026 at 10:38 am
@ BN-Truth often hurts.
gsd3
June 01, 2026 at 07:26 am
I'm assuming that Musgrave is intelligent and aware of his weaknesses. Blocking starts with desire. No amount of coaching will help if the "want to" isn't there.
As far as co-ordination, to an extent you are what you were born to be. I'm sure there are things that could help to an extent. Dance? Yoga? Who the hell knows.
As physically gifted as he is, I hope he is leaving no stone unturned in an effort to improve his game.
Cheezehead72
June 01, 2026 at 07:48 am
You nailed it when you said desire. I do not know Musgrave personally or do I know what is in his head but it all starts with wanting to be a better blocker. Blocking is the unsung hero. Its not flashy. It requires brute force and a lunch pail attitude.
Too many college TEs are not asked to block and many coaches may not instill the idea that it is a big part of their position and require them to block much. Most of the college TEs want to catch passes because that gets them noticed.
I get it. If I were a TE I would rather go out for a pass than stay in and block.
Plus the practice and conditioning required to become a good blocker is boring.
golfpacker61
June 01, 2026 at 04:58 pm
TEs and WRs block at Iowa, or they don't play. Too bad we couldn't draft LaPorta instead of Musgrave.
LambeauPlain
June 01, 2026 at 02:36 pm
In employee evaluations, we used a simple diagnostic in evaluations of prospects or current employees.
It was a "can do, will do" criteria. Can they do the job? If so, WILL they do it? Examine concrete examples where they did. If not much evidence, move on.
Cheezehead72
June 01, 2026 at 07:39 am
He was my third or fourth TE pick that year. I liked LaPorta or Mayer more but they did go before Musgrave so we would have had to trade up or pick one of those two in the first. I had Musgrave and Kincaid as equals mainly because of their limited blocking experience.
If we could go back and take Kraft in the second and Washington in the third how good would that have been. I liked Washington being a huge TE. He has played well for the Steelers.
Coldworld
June 01, 2026 at 10:09 am
Washington was a player I really wanted for us and still think would have elevated Love and the running game and not been any less of a threat in the passing game than any of the Sims/FitzPatrick etc. types we’ve pretended are blockers. He was off a lot of boards due to the condition of his knees. He’s one where I wish we had taken the risk before the Steelers did. Even a couple of seasons would have been worth a 3rd rounder. Of course, picking Kraft has proved a better pick in the 3rd, but Kraft would have been a good pick in the 2nd.
ko40489
June 01, 2026 at 08:10 am
Gutey just can't get it right in evaluating tight ends. Deguara and Sternberger were both 3rd round picks who never panned out. Musgrave seems to be in the same mold. Kraft was a great pick. But a GM has to do better than hitting on 1 in 4 picks in the 2nd and 3rd rounds for one position.
golfpacker61
June 01, 2026 at 11:27 am
It's funny you mention Sternberger. I looked up which TEs are having the best seasons in the WFL and Sternberger is #1. Although his numbers are not great by any standard.
Coldworld
June 01, 2026 at 12:08 pm
Sternberger’s issues were between the ears not physical talent.
Deguara was a F back. A type that LaFleur was openly keen on. LaFleur fell in love with Deguara’s college film at Cincinnati, even using a clip of his relentless pursuit on a 100-yard interception return to teach the rest of the Packers' roster about effort and grit. That was the season before he was drafted!
Gute got him his man (reached for him because of it) and LaFleur was ecstatic in his praise of the pick. We even had 2 F back types on the roster for a couple of seasons, emphasizing the importance of the role. LaFleur also talked about it as pivotal to his vision back then.
Unfortunately, LaFleur struggled to incorporate the role or use any H Back effectively and a couple of seasons later had ditched the role completely and began pretending that Deguara was a true TE.
Zapato
June 01, 2026 at 08:43 am
I still think Musgrave could be a good compliment to Kraft. I'm not sure Lafleur is using him where his strengths benefit the team the most. It would be nice if he had more opportunities split out off the line. But, of course, he still needs to block. Or at least occupy a defender in the run game. If he could at least embrace the role and bring some attitude to his blocking, he could stick around for awhile.
golfpacker61
June 01, 2026 at 08:48 am
This is what draftbuzz said about Musgrave:
"He’s a huge work in progress as a blocker, often playing too high and getting overpowered at the point of attack
Massively inexperienced has had only a single season where he's been on the field for more than 350 snaps (in 2021) and in his best season he still made just 304 yards through the air.
Not a powerful blocker - and doesn't drive defenders backward as you expect for a man of his size
Musgrave doesn't create the kind of separation you would hope given his elite timed speed
He’ll also have to adjust to getting his head around to locate the ball on shorter routes over the middle."
"Musgrave has huge potential, he has ideal height, long arms, soft hands, and elite speed, he, however, has never produced at a high level with any consistency - which for many many scouts raises serious red flags especially drafting him early. a boom/bust unproven prospect."
LVN and Musgrave have been, so far, massive disappointments. And we just rewarded LVN by gifting him $14.5 million for 8 sacks in 3 years. Is Musgrave the next beneficiary of a huge bonus payday. Because he is young, some team will give him $5-8 million per year again on "untapped potential." Green Bay sure shouldn't.
I like Whyle and think he can give us everything and more than Musgrave. Is Whyle the TE answer, no, but he is a solid backup. I have stated my idea for a Y TE many times. The Cowboys are ready to move on from Luke Schoonmaker, who is a much better blocker and was rated right behind Musgrave & Kraft in the 2023 draft. He is the same size and about as fast. Dallas has 4 TEs they like more and Schoonmaker will get traded or cut before the season. GB should just call Jerry and offer a 7th round pick and get it done. Musgrave will never be the blocking TE we wanted, there are all kinds of TEs available who can do what he does now.
If not, maybe Dallen Bentley doesn't make Denver's final 53 and we can steal him off the practice squad.
GregC
June 01, 2026 at 12:56 pm
In fairness Golf, you just copied and pasted the list of Musgrave's weaknesses from the NFL Draft Buzz report. They had a list of strengths that was longer than that. He's played closer to his bust potential than his boom potential unfortunately. I don't think Van Ness is in the same boat, though. He has shown improvement, whereas Musgrave peaked in his rookie year.
golfpacker61
June 01, 2026 at 05:02 pm
Yes, Greg I did copy the weaknesses to highlight what a bad pick Musgrave was and is. He still has all the same weaknesses, but the strengths have never shown their head. He is close to being a bust.
golfpacker61
June 01, 2026 at 08:58 am
If Musgrave can't learn to block, and he hasn't figured it out in 3 years, then Maryland is a better pass catching option than Musgrave is. Or we could pack 15-20 pounds on Savion and he could do what Musgrave does now, and he won't fall down if the wind blows.
Coldworld
June 01, 2026 at 10:15 am
I want to see if Maryland has his burst and explosion back first, but if he has, he’s got better balance if not the same size or long speed. However, if we play him, we need to treat him as a WR. If we treated Musgrave more like that, we might not be so disappointed in the results. That’s my doubt with LaFleur. He has his system and people fit it, not the other way around.
13TimeChamps
June 01, 2026 at 09:31 am
Unfortunately, Musgrave's issues with GB are the same as they were in college. He can't...or won't...block and he's not a redzone threat. In 4 years in college and 3 years in the pros, he has a total of 3 TDs. That's not a typo...THREE TDs in 7 years. He is the definition of "he is what he is" and that is highly unlikely to change.
I hate dissing on players, but let's be real. If Luke had been a 5th or 6th round draft pick he would have been released by now.
stockholder
June 01, 2026 at 09:59 am
Looks like Tarzan plays like Jane.
splitpea1
June 01, 2026 at 10:16 am
Not to pile on Musgrave, but I don't ever think he will become a great blocker. This was a notable weakness coming out of college, and the organization should have been prepared for a struggle here. Nor do I think the coaching staff has taken the best advantage of him regarding his height--specifically in the end zone. Maybe there is hope for him yet, but that's always been the case and it hasn't materialized.
If only we could wave a magic wand over him and turn him into Colston Loveland, a much more dynamic tight end as far as YAC, and a better blocker despite being roughly of the same stature. I hate to compliment the Bears, but they did a really good job with this half of the tight end equation.
GregC
June 01, 2026 at 10:28 am
It helped that the Bears picked 10th overall and had two excellent TE prospects to choose from. The Bears have done a good job stockpiling high draft picks and hitting on most of them, just like the Lions did a few years ago.
splitpea1
June 01, 2026 at 10:41 am
That is true.
From the Jungle Room
June 01, 2026 at 10:42 am
Musgrave has the size and speed to be a matchup nightmare in the right situations. Asking him to fill Kraft's role was a fool's errand. We've seen enough of a sample size to know that is not his game. I don't see that changing this year and MLF can't continue to expect him to be that dude. He can contribute if he's deployed to play to his strengths, his length against DBs and his hands. He showed this in his rookie year but got injured....then Kraft took over and MLFs scheme morphed to his blocking, catching and YAC prowess....which is completely different from Musgrave's game. Hopefully this is part of what MLF was talking about at OTAs where he said the staff did a deep dive and scraped some concepts from the playbook bc even though they sounded good, they simply weren't effective on the field. Don't ask Luke to be Tucker and maybe he'll show he can be the productive player we saw in Year 1.
Spock
June 01, 2026 at 11:06 am
I'm always find it strange that Musgrave's "elite speed" (4.61 forty-yard dash) makes him "speedy" for a TE when Kraft's speed (4.69 forty-yard dash) is just 0.08 seconds slower and no one talks about Kraft as a "speedy" TE.
GregC
June 01, 2026 at 11:40 am
I looked up the scouting reports. Musgrave was in the 87th percentile for speed as a TE, and Kraft was in the 72nd percentile. A significant difference but not a huge one. I think Kraft's speed does not get mentioned much because it is overshadowed by his other attributes, especially his run-after-the-catch ability.
golfpacker61
June 01, 2026 at 11:41 am
Any time in the mid 4.6s is decent for large TEs. Every year someone shocks everyone and runs 4.5s. That really isn't that much different for a human that large.
A guy I really liked in last year's draft was Orande Gadsden-Syracuse. He wasn't a true Y TE but he sure lit it up with the Chargers last year and was one of the steals of the draft. If Musgrave had anything close to that kind of production, we would love him despite the blocking limitations. Sadly, so far, he is exactly what he was in college.
Blocking is like rebounding in basketball, effort and technique. It takes alot of work to do either and players don't get the big attention for doing them. Their teammates appreciate those strengths more than anyone.
MilkCan44
June 01, 2026 at 04:37 pm
He's had some big catches, but the problem on several was that he caught them falling backwards and then fell down. That's why I was surprised at the After Catch Stats.
Oxymoron 3339
June 01, 2026 at 05:14 pm
I fear that he will start to show signs of being a keeper and then we won’t be able to keep him because he will be too expensive.
But we need him to be better since we have lost a lot of Receptions and Yards and if we part with Jacobs we will be down a lot of rushing yards too between him and Wilson.
Let’s hope he becomes a serviceable blocker and an above average receiver. That’s probably best case scenario.