Just as he was becoming a crucial weapon for the Green Bay Packers, Tucker Kraft’s breakout 2025 season came to a sudden and painful end. The tight end was in the middle of a phenomenal campaign before a significant right knee injury in Week 9 against the Carolina Panthers ended it all.
The diagnosis of a torn ACL forces the Packers to figure out how to replace his production as they head into Week 12 and beyond.
Tucker Kraft Injury Update
Kraft’s injury was officially confirmed as a torn ACL in his right knee, and the team subsequently placed him on injured reserve. While that move requires a minimum absence of four games, the severity of the injury means his 2025 season is over.
The loss is significant for the Packers’ passing attack, as Kraft had accumulated 489 receiving yards and six touchdowns through just eight games. His absence leaves a major void in the offense.
With Kraft sidelined, the team’s focus immediately shifted to redistributing his routes and targets. Luke Musgrave is now expected to handle a much larger role, with backups John FitzPatrick and Josh Whyle also getting more snaps in various offensive sets.
The workload for this trio becomes pivotal as the Packers look to maintain offensive continuity, particularly on third downs and in the red zone, where Kraft had been a reliable target.
There is no possibility of a return for Kraft in Week 12, or at all this season, as he begins the long road to recovery from his ACL tear. While external reports suggest the tight end is on track for a full recovery before the 2026 campaign, he is not eligible to play again in 2025. For now, any decisions about his activation are a concern for next year. The immediate pressure falls on the Packers’ remaining tight ends to step up and help keep the offense balanced.
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In the short term, the Packers’ game plan will feature Musgrave as the primary tight end, with FitzPatrick and Whyle filling in to support different formations. The coaching staff will have to adjust their play-calling based on game flow and matchups, reallocating some of Kraft’s key targets to wide receivers and running backs.
For the remainder of the season, the Packers will move forward with their current tight end group, while Kraft’s journey shifts to long-term rehabilitation milestones. Currently, the Packers have a 64.1% chance of making the playoffs, according to PFSN’s NFL Playoff Predictor.
This situation highlights how quickly a team’s offensive identity can shift. Kraft’s efficiency over the middle of the field created dependable options for the quarterback. Without him, the Packers’ coaches must adjust their route concepts to make spacing and find new ways to move the chains.
As the schedule moves into the critical months of late November and December, the consistency of the tight end room will be crucial to sustaining the team’s offensive rhythm.
Green Bay Packers’ Insights for Week 12
Team: Green Bay finishes with five of seven games against NFC North teams, including a road game against Detroit. The other two games are a trip to face the Broncos and a home game against the Ravens.
QB: Jordan Love’s QBi score of 79.1 (C+) was 7th in the league for Week 11. It was the 8th time in ten games that Love ranked in the QBi Top Ten. He’s 4th overall on the season rankings.
Offense: Green Bay has seven turnovers this season and is 1-3-1 when it has at least one turnover. The Packers are 5-0 when they don’t turn the ball over.
Defense: Micah Parsons led the NFL in Week 11 with a PFSN EDGE Impact Rankings (EDGEi) score of 85.8, earning a grade of B. It’s the second week he’s had a top EDGEi in the league. Overall, he’s 11th in the league for the season.
Fantasy: Jordan Love struggled against the Minnesota pressure last season, completing just 10-of-27 passes when feeling the heat with more interceptions (two) than touchdowns (one). On the whole, in 2024, he averaged 15.4% fewer fantasy points per pass against the divisional rival than the rest of the NFL.
