Jonnu Smith to Green Bay: Should Tucker Kraft Managers Be Worried?

Green Bay signing Jonnu Smith this late in August got my attention.

Not because I suddenly think Jonnu is going to replace Tucker Kraft.

I don't.

But fantasy managers drafting Kraft are paying for the idea that he can return from his knee injury and immediately resume being one of the most explosive tight ends in football.

Adding a veteran with Jonnu's résumé makes that projection a little less clean.

The Packers signed Smith on August 29, giving Matt LaFleur another athletic tight end who already knows his offense.

That's worth examining.

Jonnu Has Played for LaFleur Before

This isn't a random veteran signing.

Jonnu spent the 2018 season in Tennessee when Matt LaFleur was the Titans' offensive coordinator and play caller.

Smith caught 20 passes for 238 yards and three touchdowns that season.

Those numbers aren't huge.

The important part is familiarity.

LaFleur already knows what Smith can do.

Smith already understands many of the concepts and terminology that come from this offensive family.

For a player joining a team days before the regular-season preparation phase really begins, that matters.

Green Bay can probably get him involved faster than it could a tight end learning everything from scratch.

We Just Saw Jonnu Handle Major Volume

Smith's 2025 season in Pittsburgh wasn't a fantasy difference-maker.

He finished with 38 catches for 222 yards and two touchdowns.

But one year earlier in Miami, he showed us what happens when an offense intentionally features him.

In 2024:

88 receptions

884 receiving yards

8 touchdowns

That was the best season of his career.

Smith has never been a traditional stationary tight end.

He's an athlete.

Teams have used him on screens, crossers, motion, handoffs and manufactured touches.

That gives Green Bay something it can use even if Kraft remains the primary tight end.

Tucker Kraft Was Playing Like a Star

This is why I'm not panicking.

Kraft was excellent before his 2025 season was cut short.

In eight games he caught:

32 passes

489 yards

6 touchdowns

That's 15.3 yards per reception from a tight end.

In 2024, he had already posted 50 catches for 707 yards and seven touchdowns.

This isn't a player whose breakout exists only in projections.

We've seen it.

Kraft has become one of the league's most dangerous tight ends after the catch, and Jordan Love has been extremely efficient when targeting him.

If Kraft is healthy, Green Bay has no reason to simply take him off the field.

The ACL Recovery Is Why Jonnu Matters More

Kraft is coming back from ACL surgery.

He returned to team work during the preseason, which is obviously encouraging.

But Green Bay doesn't have to force him into a massive snap share immediately.

That's where Smith changes the equation.

Before this signing, fantasy managers could reasonably project Kraft for nearly every meaningful receiving snap once he was cleared.

Now the Packers have a veteran who can absorb some of that work.

Maybe it's 10 snaps.

Maybe it's 20.

Maybe Smith is primarily insurance while Kraft ramps up.

We don't know yet.

But the range of outcomes has widened.

This Could Be About the Whole Tight End Room

It's also important not to view every transaction entirely through fantasy football.

Green Bay needed tight-end depth.

Luke Musgrave has also been dealing with a neck issue.

The Packers have used multiple-tight-end formations throughout LaFleur's tenure.

Smith can help the real-life offense without becoming a weekly fantasy starter.

He can line up next to Kraft.

He can motion across the formation.

He can take underneath touches while Kraft attacks deeper.

There are ways for both players to matter.

The fantasy concern is simply that every route Smith runs is one Kraft isn't running.

Every designed tight-end touch for Smith is one less possible opportunity for Kraft.

The Red Zone Is Where I'm Watching Closely

Kraft has scored 15 receiving touchdowns in his first three NFL seasons.

Six of those came in only eight games last year.

That's a huge part of his fantasy ceiling.

Jonnu also has 30 career receiving touchdowns and has consistently been useful around the goal line because of his athleticism.

Green Bay doesn't need to make Smith a high-volume player for him to matter.

If he steals a handful of red-zone routes or designed touches, that can be enough to shave points from Kraft's ceiling.

At tight end, touchdowns matter too much to ignore that.

My Fantasy Read

I'm still drafting Tucker Kraft ahead of Jonnu Smith.

Comfortably.

Kraft is younger, already has chemistry with Jordan Love and was producing at an elite rate before his injury.

But I would move Kraft down slightly if I had been projecting him for an immediate every-down role.

Jonnu gives Green Bay flexibility.

He knows LaFleur.

He has proven he can handle receiving volume.

He can be used in ways that don't require replacing Kraft outright.

That makes this more than a meaningless depth signing.

For Jonnu, I'm not rushing to draft him in normal 10-team leagues.

For Kraft, I'm not panicking.

But if you drafted Kraft expecting the Packers to give him every tight-end target available, the situation just got a little more complicated.