Kraft trying to channel ‘inner Bavaro’

By: 
Jacob Westendorf
Correspondent

Green Bay tight end Tucker Kraft was drafted by the Packers in the 2023 draft. Against the Vikings on Sept. 29, he caught six passes for 53 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown catch.

What does a tight end in a red jersey do in practice?

I guess do your best not to get thudded up by your teammates. Usually if I’m about to hit one of my teammates, I’ll tell them, like, “Hey, I’m coming at you, just give me like 75%. Let me work on my hands and feet.” That’s great, too. If I’m in pass protection with one of the guys, you get engaged and then I’ll say, “Go. Now, just go.”

For a guy who likes to block, is that hard to back off?

Well, yeah. I mean there’s, I would say, more pros than cons about it. Because come Sunday I can really just unload, but I feel like I’m someone who plays with good leverages and techniques, so I get that on the field in practice. I just don’t get the collisions.

This have anything to do with the pec injury?

No, this is has nothing to do with my pec. This is just, like, they’re just trying to take some hits off me.

You have pick up blitzers to keep Love from getting hit?

Yeah, that’s just us being locked in to our responsibilities. They’re going to give us so many different fronts, different defensive personnels. They have blitz tendencies, they have packages, and the things we’re trying to do is we’re not trying to so much make it about personnel, but just spots and people.

Between the running back and I and wide receivers just all being on the same page of who’s responsible for who and just running off the football to try to play fast.

Do you have to keep Jordan protected?

Of course. Protect the quarterback at all costs, for sure.

What do you think about pass rushers lining up over the tight ends?

You’ve got all week to watch the film and know where you’re going to put your tight end, so I wouldn’t say that the defense was creating that matchup. I was saying that I would be in the offense’s hands to create that matchup. Learning how to pass pro a pass rusher in the NFL is a hard thing to do as a rookie. I’ve seen the Texans film. I know what to expect from a physical pass rusher. What’s important is staying inside out, getting hands on, maintaining a base, keeping your hips behind you. I mean you have to really be locked into your technique when you’re going against guys that are 15, 20 pounds heavier than you,

Favorite Aaron Jones memory?

I mean, he was just such a nice guy. It didn’t matter if you just got in that week to be on the practice squad, he’d treat you the same as if you were an eight-year vet. One of my favorite memories is when we got into the fight with that defensive back after the Vikings game. Someone got a picture of it, and I framed it and I had him sign it. So that was a funny, cool memory.

Weird seeing him get into a fight?

We were breaking it up. He just took a glancing blow to the face. He caught a stray fist there, so we all had to step in and protect everybody, I guess.

You could’ve stayed on the sideline (against the Titans), but you went back in even though the game was in hand?

That wasn’t even in a question in my head. I desire to be on the field.

No big picture view to play it safe and stay out?

Last night, I got on YouTube and I looked up Mark Bavaro, so that’s just kind of the mindset I’m going with from now on. I’m going to be tough. I’m going to play through things; everybody does. God gave us all the ability to endure, so I’m just choosing free will right now. Checking that box.

You weren’t even alive when Mark Bavaro played.

Yeah, had a lot of people tell me to look him up, especially coach Rich Bisaccia. He said, “You’ve got to give this guy a look.” I did, and I was amazed.

What did you learn?

Just being physical, being tough. YAC, that’s really all that guy was worried about. He set a precedent in the run game, so just trying to channel my inner Bavaro.

Did you give Emanuel Wilson any hurdling tips?

I don’t know, maybe not so far in the box still. Wait until you’re one-on-one on that one. Naw, I don’t know. That looked like it hurt, though. I’ve been there.

You were big part of win at Minnesota last year.

What happens when they’re blitzing, when they’re sending five, sending six, you leave holes in your defense. We took advantage of those. There was guys open. We had a pretty complete game. We were able to take our starters off the field in the fourth quarter. That was a New Year’s Eve game, so it was great to be able to get some reps off our bodies. The key to that was finding the voids.

Communication with Love on that?

Yeah. The quarterback can change protection out there at any moment. I could not be involved, and he sees seven guys walked up on the line of scrimmage, and we’re going to use our cadence; he’s going to bring me down. It’s all just about communication. I’m using my peripherals to see if Jordan, if he takes a look at me, look back at him. He could signal me something; he could directly tell me something.

Usually, we’re only one position – we’re No. 3 as far as field, boundary receiver sets. So we’re still pretty close to the quarterback; we can hear what he’s saying.

Like to watch the blocking or receiving part of your game more?

Getting around and picking on a DB, it’s cool and all. But getting the opportunity to do something with your legs, like catching a short route and making the first guy miss, that’s my mentality. I never want to be tackled by the first guy, let alone a DB. My mentality as soon as I catch the football is I’m just seeing probabilities of run lanes. That all really goes back to my nine-man high school running back days. I got a lot of reps with that in high school. I’d get 40 carries a game, got a lot of opportunities to run with the football. In college, same thing. I established the larger part of what I could do as a tight end was be physical. I’m still as a pro trying to define the space between where physicality and precision meet, and I feel like I’m getting there. I love catching the football. That’s great, but I love breaking tackles.