We’re two weeks into Pt. 2 of the Luke Musgrave Starting Tight End Experience, and it has already crashed and burned. Despite all the talent and horsepower Luke Musgrave possesses,
Unfortunately, the man behind the wheel is completely out of control right now.
After a fumble that fortunately trickled out of bounds and a drop that was initially called a fumble and recovered by the New York Giants, the Luke Musgrave experiment was over. He finished the game playing fewer snaps than Josh Whyle and John FitzPatrick. Matt LaFleur said after the game that Musgrave needs to play more snaps. After what we saw, I’m not sure he does.
On the bright side, Whyle flashed and scored a touchdown in Green Bay's win over the Giants. The Tennessee Titans selected Whyle in the fifth round two years ago, and he seldom played, recording just 9 catches as a rookie. However, as a backup tight end in a putrid offense that ranked 30th in EPA per play last season, he was Tennessee’s fifth-leading receiver with 28 receptions for 248 yards.
Despite a solid sophomore season and fans expecting him to have a larger role this season, he got squeezed out of the room after a new regime selected Gunnar Helm in the fourth round and opted to prioritize their guys.
The Packers had hosted Whyle for a visit before the 2023 draft and signed him to their practice squad before this season. Later, they promoted him to the active roster following Tucker Kraft’s season-ending ACL tear.
Whyle has a 6’6” frame and can run downfield with 4.69 speed. Musgrave is also 6’6” with 4.61 speed, but Whyle is a significantly better blocker. In his final college season, he finished with a 76 PFF pass-blocking grade and a 69.9 run-blocking grade. However, he finished the game with a holding penalty on the game-winning touchdown drive. He’s still developing, but it feels like there’s some untapped potential with him.
On the other hand, FitzPatrick offers the Packers stability, but there doesn’t feel like there's much upside in the pass game. Still, he’s a helluva blocker. FitzPatrick played the most snaps among the tight ends, playing 64% of snaps. However, he finished the game with only one catch for five yards and has eight catches in his career.
The room is in a rough spot after Kraft's injury and Musgrave’s lack of development. While Josh Whyle looks like a guy who deserves an NFL roster spot, Green Bay's front office should continue to look for tight ends who can contribute in this offense.
The first two guys Green Bay’s coaches are looking at are McCallan Castles and Drake Dabney. They signed both to the practice squad following Kraft's injury and Whyle’s promotion.
Castles had over 1,200 yards and 14 TDs in his five-year college career, while playing for three different teams. He went undrafted out of Tennessee. Castles is a good athlete with an 8.58 RAS score. He’s dealt with injuries early on in his career with the Philadelphia Eagles before landing on the Los Angeles Chargers’ practice squad last season, before ultimately ending up in Green Bay.
Dabney is a rookie UDFA whom the Titans signed out of TCU. Similar to Castles, he played five productive seasons in college, piling up over 1,000 yards and eight TDs. Dabney’s best season was his fourth year at Baylor, when he totaled 552 yards and five TDs.
He wasn’t as good an athlete as Castles, with just a 4.74 RAS score. Dabney is also on the smaller side at 6’4”, 246 lbs. Given that, he may project more closely with a player like old friend Dominique Dafney than with a traditional tight end. The Packers even gave Dabney his old number (49).
Outside of the immediate roster, Green Bay should also look elsewhere to find depth.
Peyton Hendershot is one available free agent. Hendershot entered the NFL as a UDFA out of Indiana in 2022. He made a name for himself in his first training camp with the Dallas Cowboys, making the initial 53 as a UDFA.
However, he was never able to climb higher than TE3 due to injuries and because players like Jake Ferguson and Dalton Schultz were ahead of him. He was traded to Kansas City last August, where he spent the whole season. He was again stuck behind quality TEs, dealt with injuries, and never truly got a shot.
He’s unsigned now, though. He’s just 26 and has shown much more ability as an NFL player than both Castles and Dabney. If neither makes a name for themselves in practice in the coming weeks, I’d consider taking a look at Hendershot.
Around the league, a few other guys are sitting on practice squads that I’d consider bringing in.
My favorite is Luke Lachey, a tight end out of Iowa on the Houston Texans practice squad. Lachey was a name I’ve been monitoring throughout this draft process. Green Bay wasn’t going to take tight early, if at all. However, Lachey was a name I would’ve considered on Day 3.
Another tight end from the Iowa pipeline, a place that always has a spot that produces pro-ready players. Lachey was a high-level recruit out of high school, the sixth-overall tight end in his class.
Unfortunately, because of a nonexistent pass game and injuries, Lachey didn’t have much production over his five seasons at Iowa. However, he has a large frame, comes from a pro-style run-heavy offense, and I believe he has the talent to compete with the TEs on Green Bay's roster today.
Another name I’d consider is Moliki “Mo” Matavao, a rookie TE out of UCLA, who’s on the New Orleans Saints’ practice squad. Matavao was the 10th-ranked TE on Dane Brugler's big board and drafted in the seventh round.
If you're looking for a lesser version of Tucker Kraft, this is the guy. Matavao excels using his big body and basketball background to go up and get the ball, and also uses it to shed tacklers with the ball in his hands. He’d be one of the more fun experiments if the Packers open up a roster spot for him.
Still, the main issue with signing a guy off the practice squad is that you need to sign him to the active roster. It’s at a point in the season where these young players would be playing catch-up, and there’s no practice squad runway available for them.
However, Messiah Swinson would have a head start.
Swinson is on the Arizona Cardinals’ practice squad, but he spent parts of last season on Green Bay’s practice squad and this past training camp with the Packers. They may have decided to move on from him after camp, though. He never played a snap, and they didn’t re-sign him to their practice squad.
However, that may have just been Swinson looking for an opportunity elsewhere. He didn’t join anyone’s practice squad until signing with the San Francisco 49ers in Week 2 after George Kittle got injured. However, now with a need in the room, Green Bay may consider bringing him back.
Swinson is a massive (6’7”, 259 lbs.) blocking-first tight end, who is a lumbering athlete. He wouldn’t be the most exciting addition, but if Green Bay is looking for more bodies, he makes the most sense.
Green Bay is in a tough spot. They went from having a guy playing at an all-pro level to not knowing whether they have anyone they want playing more than 70% of snaps. There are other ways you can work around this, including more receiver-heavy sets.
Still, LaFleur built his offense around being run-first and tight-end-heavy, and it would take a massive midseason shift for that to change. Therefore, it would bode well to continue to turn over every stone to get this TE room in a better place after Tucker Kraft’s injury.
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