Welcome back.
Just 9 ½ months — 287 days to be exact — after tearing his right ACL against Carolina, Green Bay Packers tight end Tucker Kraft is expected to do 11-on-11 drills at practice today.
“I think you could be in for a treat today,” Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur said of Kraft’s return.
Kraft was in the middle of an All-Pro season in 2025 when he tore his right ACL against Carolina on Nov. 2.
Kraft had been doing only individual drills in practice the first 2 ½ weeks of training camp, but when asked recently if he had any hesitations to going full bore, he said, “absolutely not.”
“Gute and I have talked about how he’s essentially protecting me from myself because I’m all gas,” Kraft said of general manager Brian Gutekunst. “Like a tricycle, I don’t come with brakes. It’s really just helping me establish that mindset of consistency through a slow ramp-up and that’s it.”
Kraft started all eight of the games he played in 2025 and posted 32 receptions, 489 receiving yards and six touchdowns. He was the only tight end in the league with 30-plus receptions, 475-plus receiving yards, six-plus receiving touchdowns and an average of 15-plus yards per catch through Week 9. He also became just the fifth tight end since the 1970 merger to hit those marks in the first eight games of a season, joining Kellen Winslow (1980), Antonio Gates (2010), Jimmy Graham (2013) and Rob Gronkowski (2015).
After Kraft went down, though, the offense wasn’t close to the same. Green Bay averaged 27.6 points the first seven games when Kraft went the distance. The Packers then averaged 19.8 points per game the final 10 games after Kraft was injured.
A recent ESPN poll that surveyed NFL executives, coaches and scouts ranked Kraft as the No. 6 tight end in football. That might not be high enough.
“Certainly, the impact that he has on our football team, not only as a player but as a leader, is very important to us,” Gutekunst said.
After Week 9 last season, Kraft led all NFL tight ends in yards per reception, yards after the catch (344), yards after the catch per game (43.0), yards after the catch per reception (10.8 avg.), was tied for No. 1 in explosive receptions (12) and ranked No. 2 in explosive-reception percentage (37.5) through Week 9.
Kraft ranked No. 3 in the NFL among tight ends in receiving yards and No. 2 in receiving yards per game (61.1) through Week 9. He was also tied for No. 2 among tight ends in receiving touchdowns and posted a touchdown reception in five games, which tied for the NFL lead among tight ends through Week 9.
Kraft joined Paul Coffman (1983) as the only Green Bay tight ends since the 1970 merger to have two games in a season with 120-plus receiving yards. And his passer rating of 148.6 when targeted ranked No. 2 in the NFL at the time of his injury.
“He’s in a great spot,” Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love recently said of Kraft. “He’s been working all offseason to get to where he’s at now.”
Which is back to doing 11-on-11 drills.