Luke Musgrave Is on PUP — Is Tucker Kraft’s TE1 Ceiling Being Underrated?

Tucker Kraft was becoming one of fantasy football's biggest tight end breakouts before an ACL tear ended his 2025 season.

Now he is back.

But Green Bay's tight end situation is not as simple as removing Luke Musgrave and projecting every available target to Kraft.

Musgrave will begin the season on the physically unable to perform list because of a neck injury, guaranteeing at least four missed games. Green Bay responded by reinforcing the position, most notably signing veteran Jonnu Smith.

So what should fantasy managers do with Kraft?

The answer depends on whether you view Smith as insurance or legitimate competition.

Kraft Was Already Breaking Out

Before the ACL injury, Kraft caught 32 passes for 489 yards and six touchdowns in eight games last season.

That is 61.1 receiving yards per game from a tight end.

More importantly, he averaged 15.3 yards per reception.

Tight ends who combine touchdown production with explosive efficiency are difficult to find. Kraft was not surviving on five-yard checkdowns. He was creating meaningful gains and becoming a legitimate component of Green Bay's passing offense.

If you simply extend his eight-game pace across a full season, the fantasy ceiling is obvious.

The problem is that recovery and competition make a straight-line projection too aggressive.

The ACL Recovery Is the First Question

Green Bay activated Kraft from PUP on July 31, allowing him to return to individual work and walkthrough periods.

That was encouraging.

It did not mean he was immediately back to a normal workload.

ACL recoveries matter differently for every player, and tight end is a physically demanding position. Kraft has to block, change direction, absorb contact and repeatedly work through traffic.

Fantasy managers should therefore separate two questions:

Can Kraft play Week 1?

And can Kraft immediately play the same number and quality of snaps he handled before the injury?

The second question matters more.

If Green Bay manages his workload early, the ceiling could arrive later than fantasy managers want.

Musgrave’s PUP Placement Helps

Luke Musgrave never came off PUP during training camp and will miss at least the first four games.

That removes one player who could have competed directly with Kraft for receiving routes.

Green Bay has liked using multiple tight ends, but Musgrave's absence simplifies part of the rotation.

If Kraft were fully healthy and the Packers had done nothing else, this would be an obvious fantasy boost.

Then Green Bay signed Jonnu Smith.

Jonnu Smith Changes the Calculation

Smith is not a random blocking tight end.

He has 345 career receptions, 3,529 receiving yards and 30 touchdowns. He has been productive in multiple offensive systems and remains capable of contributing as a receiver.

Green Bay also traded for Mark Redman and kept Josh Whyle.

The Packers clearly decided they needed more tight end depth while Kraft worked back from his ACL and Musgrave remained sidelined.

That could be interpreted two ways.

The optimistic interpretation is that Smith protects Green Bay from overworking Kraft early and eventually settles into a complementary role.

The pessimistic interpretation is that Smith remains involved enough to prevent Kraft from reaching the elite route participation necessary for a true fantasy TE1 overall ceiling.

Both outcomes are plausible.

Matt LaFleur Has Always Valued Multiple Tight Ends

This is where scheme matters.

Matt LaFleur does not need one tight end to play every receiving snap for his offense to function.

Green Bay can use multiple personnel packages, move tight ends around and create specific roles based on matchup.

That is good real-life offense.

It can be frustrating for fantasy.

Kraft's talent can overcome some rotation. He does not need 10 targets per game if his targets are efficient and he remains a red-zone weapon.

But there is a difference between being a strong fantasy starter and becoming an elite positional advantage.

The latter usually requires both talent and route volume.

Smith is the variable that can reduce the second part.

Kraft’s 2025 Efficiency Was Special

This is why I am not fading Kraft aggressively.

A tight end averaging more than 15 yards per reception while scoring six touchdowns in eight games is showing us something important.

Kraft can create fantasy points without needing Travis Kelce-style target volume.

That gives him more margin for error than a tight end whose value depends entirely on catching six short passes every week.

If Kraft receives five or six high-quality targets in Green Bay's offense, he can still produce strong fantasy weeks.

And if Smith's role shrinks as Kraft gets healthier, the second-half ceiling becomes enormous.

What I Want to See in September

Do not focus only on catches.

Watch:

• Kraft's snap percentage.
• His routes per Jordan Love dropback.
• How often Smith is on the field in obvious passing situations.
• Which tight end is running routes from the slot.
• Which tight end Green Bay uses in the red zone.

Those indicators will tell us whether Smith is simply helping the room survive Musgrave's absence or whether Green Bay intends to maintain a true receiving rotation.

My Fantasy Read

I still want Tucker Kraft in fantasy football.

Musgrave missing at least four games removes one competitor, and Kraft's 2025 production showed legitimate difference-making upside.

But Jonnu Smith prevents me from treating Musgrave's absence as a pure target-consolidation win.

Kraft is returning from a major knee injury into a tight end room Green Bay deliberately reinforced.

That adds early-season uncertainty.

At the right draft price, I am willing to accept it because Kraft's ceiling is substantially higher than that of most mid-tier tight ends.

I would draft him as a fantasy starter with top-five positional upside rather than paying a price that assumes he immediately becomes the unquestioned centerpiece of Green Bay's tight end usage.

If his September route participation looks like his pre-injury role, the buy window will disappear quickly.