The Green Bay Packers have several potential building blocks, but one player sticks out.
The Green Bay Packers' most promising building block entering the 2026 season has been identified by NFL analyst Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report.
Who is it? It's TE Tucker Kraft.
"If Kraft is back to 100 percent early in the year, he should have a chance to establish himself as one of the top tight ends in the conference," Knox wrote.
Kraft tore his ACL on November 2. He appeared in eight games last season and finished with 32 receptions for 489 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns.
The Packers selected Kraft with the 78th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. The South Dakota State product has 113 catches for 1,551 receiving yards and 15 receiving touchdowns with Green Bay.
"I wanna play for this organization my entire career," Kraft said. "I'm spoiled to have been drafted here and this is all I know. Green and gold is all I know, so we'd like to keep it that way and my agent and the Packers' front office, they're gonna be in those talks in time when it comes. You guys will find out eventually."
The Packers face the Minnesota Vikings to start the 2026 season. There are many people within the Green Bay organization who believe Kraft will play in that game.
Matt LaFleur's group will face the Vikings, New York Jets, Atlanta Falcons, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions, Carolina Panthers, New England Patriots, Vikings, Los Angeles Rams, New Orleans Saints, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, Bears, Houston Texans and Lions next season. Green Bay should make the playoffs.
The Packers haven't won a playoff game since 2023. Superstar Micah Parsons tore his ACL last season against the Denver Broncos in Week 15. Green Bay didn't win a game after that.
The Packers lost Romeo Doubs to the Patriots in free agency and traded Dontayvion Wicks to the Philadelphia Eagles this offseason. Without Wicks and Doubs, Green Bay has Kraft, Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, Matthew Golden, Savion Williams, Skyy Moore, Jakobie Keeney-James, Isaiah Neyor and Will Sheppard on its roster for Jordan Love to target.
Love has turned into a solid QB under LaFleur. He finished last season with 3,381 passing yards and 23 passing touchdowns while completing 66.3% of his passes.
Love enters next season with 11,535 passing yards and 83 passing touchdowns. He's 27-20-1 as a starter.
Green Bay's defense will probably struggle to begin next season since Parsons won't be ready to play. That means Love and the offense will have to carry the load and having Kraft in the lineup from Week 1 would be a huge boost.
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