The Green Bay Packers weren’t expected to do much going into last season, but after a slow start, they got hot and started to take on the look of a rising power.
The Packers won six of their last eight regular-season games, and they produced a resounding upset of the 12-5 Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs before succumbing to the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional Round.
Jordan Love, the successor to departed future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers, led the charge in November, December and January, but he didn’t do it alone. The Packers had a number of young, rising players who contributed to their surprising success.
Tight end Luke Musgrave isn’t talked about a lot as a reason for their strong finish.
However, Josh Edwards of CBS Sports named him as the tight end most likely to have a breakout 2024 campaign.
“Musgrave missed six games last season and still managed to record 34 receptions for 352 yards and one touchdown in a Packers offense that found itself as the season progressed,” wrote Edwards. “Musgrave is the prototypical NFL tight end. Another season in the system, an offseason removed of distraction and, hopefully, a return to full health should allow him to have the type of breakout season that Green Bay expected from him when he was taken No. 42 overall.”
In four seasons of college football at Oregon State University, Musgrave didn’t exactly put up solid numbers. In 34 games, he totaled just 47 receptions, 633 yards and two touchdowns.
His rookie season was limited to 11 games, as Edwards alluded to, because of a lacerated kidney he sustained in Week 11 versus the Los Angeles Chargers. He returned in Week 18, and in that playoff victory versus the Cowboys, he caught three passes for 52 yards and one touchdown. In total, he finished the regular season with 352 yards and one touchdown.
At 6-foot-6 and over 250 pounds, Musgrave isn’t extremely fast, but he seems to have something resembling the ideal build for the tight end position in the modern NFL.
Assuming Love continues to grow and improve as a quarterback, he could help Musgrave grow and develop in his own right by getting Musgrave the ball and rewarding the former Oregon Duck for running routes well.
The future looks very bright in Green Bay, as the storied franchise has once again found another franchise quarterback right after its former one left, and it has some playmakers around that new franchise QB to elevate the team as a whole.
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