How can Luke Musgrave impact Packers offense in 2025? What we know about TE after 2 years

Luke Musgrave has almost become the forgotten man of the Green Bay Packers’ offense, having missed a huge chunk of the 2024 season with a torn ligament in his ankle.

After a bright rookie year in which he also dealt with injuries but also showed why the Packers drafted him in Round 2 of the 2023 NFL draft, Musgrave was limited to just nine targets and seven receptions in his second season.

With such limited data to work from in 2024, it is necessary to take a trip back to Musgrave’s rookie year to analyze his strengths and weaknesses in his short NFL career so far:

Strengths

Musgrave entered the league with a well-earned reputation for being a top tier athlete at the tight end position, having run an eye-opening 4.61 40 at the combine, so it is no surprise he has been at his best when opening up and utilizing his elite speed.

Among qualified tight ends, Musgrave ranked in the 67th percentile in yards per reception (Y/REC) in 2023, as well as the 65th percentile for average depth of target (ADOT). Musgrave’s receptions were often big ones for the Packers.

The deep part of the field is where Musgrave has been the most efficient as a receiver, ranking in the 91st percentile in yards per route run (Y/RR).

His speed in the open field allowed him to regularly pick up yards after the catch. Musgrave ranked in the 67th percentile for yards after the catch per reception (YAC/REC).

Unlike many of his teammates, Musgrave has not struggled with drops so far, dropping just one pass and ranking in the 83rd percentile in drop rate in 2023.

Musgrave has done most of his damage against zone coverage, which is similar to most of the Packers’ pass catchers. He ranked in the 66th percentile in Y/RR versus zone as a rookie.

Surprisingly, Musgrave received strong run blocking grades by PFF in 2023, which was not considered a strength of his game entering the league. He ranked in the 69th percentile for run block grade.

By PFF’s grades, he has been a better run blocker than Tucker Kraft, which does not seem representative of the truth. It is difficult to say where the discrepancy lies, but perhaps Musgrave has been given less demanding blocking assignments than Kraft.

Weaknesses

The flipside of Musgrave’s ability to win deep is that he has not been particularly strong in any other area of the field. In terms of Y/RR, he ranked in the 39th percentile behind the line of scrimmage and the 31st in the 0-10 yard area.

Like his teammate Kraft, Musgrave did not actually get targeted enough to qualify in the intermediate portion, but if he had, he would have ranked in just the 9th percentile for Y/RR there.

Packers fans who have become familiar with Musgrave’s tendency to stumble to the ground with the ball in his hands will not be surprised to learn he ranked in the 23rd percentile for missed tackles forced per reception in 2023.

He is essentially at the opposite end of the stylistic spectrum to Kraft, who has not been used often enough downfield, but is a weapon after the catch. Green Bay may want to focus on finding ways to make Musgrave more involved in the short and intermediate passing game.

While PFF looked favorably on his run blocking as a rookie, they were less impressed with his pass blocking, with Musgrave ranking in the 5th percentile in pass blocking grade compared to his fellow tight ends.

The list of true strengths and weaknesses is not exhaustive, and there are plenty of areas Musgrave was simply around league average as a rookie, just as his effectiveness out of the slot, facing man coverage, on screens, and making contested catches.

Overall he was basically a league average, useful tight end as a rookie, which is nothing to sneeze at. It is a shame his second season was so disrupted by injury, and he has fallen behind Kraft in the pecking order, but the Packers should still find plenty of ways to utilize him in 2025.

This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Luke Musgrave analysis: How can he impact Packers offense in 2025?