GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The only thing Tucker Kraft got wrong on Thursday night was his own history. Contrary to what the Green Bay Packers tight end said, he had not gone through his entire football life without a 100-yard game before his eye-catching performance against the Washington Commanders.
He did have a 100-yard receiving game in college.
Two of them, in fact.
Even if he forgot that during his sophomore year at South Dakota State in 2021 he had triple-digit receiving yards against both Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois, he is unlikely to let this one escape his memory: six catches for 124 yards and a touchdown in the Thursday night spotlight during the Packers' 27-18 win at Lambeau Field.
"Hopefully I can keep stacking games like that," an exhausted Kraft said, sitting at his locker after the game. "But it's the first time I've ever gotten over 100 yards, including in college. So I'm feeling it now, you just get tackled that many more times. I mean, yeah, I'm excited, but it's over."
The Packers still may be on the lookout for a WR1, but there is no longer any doubt that they have a TE1.
"That's what Tuck is every day," said Packers quarterback Jordan Love, who threw for 292 yards and two touchdowns against Washington. "He comes in and puts that work in. In practice every day, he's making those big-time plays, and he's very consistent right now. I don't think it's a secret for him to go out there and ball like he does.
"First time having 100 yards, which is pretty cool for him. He just goes out there and takes the work from practice into the games and is consistent with what he does. It's something we've just got to keep building on with him, but Tuck's a guy that's going to have a big year."
It's not as if Kraft should take anyone by surprise. Last season, he was one of only two tight ends in the NFL (George Kittle) to post 50-plus catches, 700-plus receiving yards, seven-plus touchdowns and average at least 14.0 yards per catch.
This season, he became the first Packers player with a touchdown catch in each of the first two games since Davante Adams in 2018. His 124 yards against the Commanders was the most receiving yards in a game by a Packers tight end since Richard Rodgers' 146 in the 2015 Hail Mary game at Detroit, and 73 of those yards on Thursday came after the catch -- the most by a Packers tight end since Jermichael Finley had 80 against the Vikings in Week 4 of the 2009 season. A good chunk of that came on a 57-yard catch and run in the first quarter.
A wide open Tucker Kraft picks up 57 yards 😤
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"I think he's one of the best that we have in this league," Packers safety Xavier McKinney said. "[Thursday's] game pretty much showed it, but he does this to me every game. He's a guy that can go out there, and he can play as a receiver. He blocks his ass off. It's really nothing that he doesn't really do. He does everything well. He's an all-around tight end."
The 24-year-old, third-year pro was not even the first tight end the Packers picked in the 2023 draft. They took Luke Musgrave in the second round (No. 42 overall) and Kraft in the third (No. 78 overall). While Musgrave has missed significant parts of his first two seasons because of multiple injuries, Kraft has never missed a game.
He quickly has become a crowd favorite in part because of his mantra, "Don't let a DB tackle me in space," and in part because he's a small-town guy (Timber Lake, South Dakota, population 509). He has made Green Bay his year-round home. It's the smallest city for an NFL team, but, as Kraft said it's "the largest city I've ever lived in."
He also made quite the impression on the newest member of the Packers.
"He's playing terrific, bro," new edge rusher Micah Parsons said. "I think he's bound to have a breakout year."