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[Green Bay Packers]

Packers All-Quarter Century Team: Left Tackle voting

Which blind side protector will earn your top spot?

Now that we are about wrapped up with the ball-handling positions on offense, our quest to name the Green Bay Packers’ All-2000s (so far) team moves on to the offensive line. We will start with the premier pass-protecting position, the left tackle spot, where the Packers have had two players locking down the blind side for the majority of the last 25 years.

Another pair of players have multiple seasons as starters around those two longtime stars, giving us just four nominees for consideration. Take a look below and give us your vote for who is the Packers’ best left tackle of the last 25 seasons.

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Left Tackle Nominees​

Chad Clifton (2000-2011)​

2x Pro Bowl

The Packers started this century off with a bang, finding a decade-long rock at left tackle in the second round of the 2000 NFL Draft. In fact, they found bookend tackles that year, first drafting Clifton 44th overall out of Tennessee before landing Wisconsin’s own Mark Tauscher in the 7th round.

Clifton was as steady as they come on the right side for most of 12 seasons with the Packers, taking over as a starter a few weeks into his rookie season and never looking back. After he missed the last six games of the 2002 season following a brutal blind-side block from Warren Sapp on an interception return, Clifton returned to become a set-him-and-forget-him tackle. In fact, he was so reliable that over the 8-year span from 2003 to 2010, Clifton missed a grand total of six games while making his two Pro Bowls (2007 and 2010).

After protecting Aaron Rodgers’ blind side en route to a win in Super Bowl XLV, Clifton returned at age 35 for one more season in 2011 but missed 10 games with back and hamstring injuries. He was able to suit up in week 17 and in the Packers’ playoff game that year, but the team released him with a failed physical the following spring and retired shortly thereafter.

In all, Clifton played in 165 games with 160 starts, protecting both Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers throughout his career as one of the longest-tenured full-time starting offensive linemen in team history.

Marshall Newhouse (2010-2013)​

When Clifton missed those ten games during the 2011 season, it was Newhouse who took over for him. The 5th-round draft pick in 2010 did not play as a rookie but Clifton’s injuries thrust him into the starting lineup, where he would remain through the end of the season. Clifton’s return late in the season then shifted Newhouse over to right tackle for week 17, filling in for an injured Bryan Bulaga.

With Clifton retiring and Bulaga solidly entrenched on the right side for the 2012 season, Newhouse was the team’s every-week starter at left tackle that year. His first and only season as a full-time starter for the Packers was a bit of a roller-coaster, which did help lead the Packers to flip their offensive line around during spring practices in 2013. The plan was for Bryan Bulaga to move from right to left tackle, while Newhouse would battle for a job on the right side.

Ultimately, Newhouse did not win a position battle, even with Bulaga suffering a torn ACL on Family Night and both tackle jobs being up for grabs. After starting 31 games in Green Bay, Newhouse went on to play until the 2020 season, starting 50 more games (mostly at right tackle) for seven different teams. However, his job as a full-time starter for two seasons helped the Packers bridge the gap between a pair of ten-year starters.

David Bakhtiari (2013-2023)​

2x first-team All-Pro, 3x second-team All-Pro, 3x Pro Bowl

As mentioned above, Newhouse’s short tenure as the Packers’ left tackle came after Clifton and led into the Bakhtiari era. A 4th-round pick out of the University of Colorado in 2013, Bakhtiari was a player whose size and length screamed guard. However, with Bulaga going down, he got a chance to fight for the left tackle job and he took it immediately, impressing the Packers’ coaches with his lateral mobility and pass-blocking chops.

Getting a day-one starter on the offensive line in the 4th round is unlikely. Getting one of the NFL’s elite pass-blocking tackles is unheard of. But Bakhtiari earned either first- or second-team All-Pro honors in five straight seasons from 2016 to 2020. During that time, he and Trent Williams were uniformly discussed as the top two pass-blockers in the NFL, and he played in at least 12 games in every one of his first 8 seasons.

Unfortunately, that 8th year, 2020, was cut short with an injury that would define the remainder of his NFL career. Bakhtiari had missed three games in the first half of the season with other injuries, but after signing a massive new contract extension midway through the season, he blew out his knee in practice on New Year’s Eve. He tore his ACL and had other structural damage, and he missed all but one game in 2021 before trying to come back in 2022. He suited up in 11 games that season, missing games here and there with issues related to fluid buildup in the repaired knee.

Bakhtiari would play just one game in 2023, the season opener, before being shut down again for a season-ending knee surgery. He played just 20 games after signing his contract in 2020, an unfortunate end for both player and team. However, Bakhtiari’s exceptional 8-year run — and incredible 5-year peak — make him one of the best offensive linemen to suit up in Green and Gold.

Rasheed Walker (2022-2024)​

A 7th-round pick in 2022, Walker fell in the draft amid injury concerns during his final year at Penn State. However, after a de facto redshirt season, Walker was ready to step in when Bakthiari was unable to continue after week 1 of the 2023 season. Although he and Yosh Nijman rotated a bit that season, Walker took control of the job late in the year and finished the season by playing over 75% of the team’s total offensive snaps.

In 2024, he continued where he left off, starting every game at left tackle after fending off a challenge from first-round rookie Jordan Morgan in training camp. Walker’s only missed snaps last season came when the starters were pulled late in a 34-0 blowout of the New Orleans Saints.

Like Bakhtiari, Walker is a plus pass blocker. However, while Bakhtiari eventually developed into an above-average run blocker, Walker has yet to reach that level despite his 6-foot-6, 320-plus frame. Still, he heads into 2025 as the likely starter on the blind side once again, though he heads into a contract year in 2026, when the Packers have a lot of mouths to feed with extensions.

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Source: https://www.acmepackingcompany.com/...s-all-quarter-century-team-left-tackle-voting

 

[Green Bay Packers]

Packers Top Plays of 2024, #7: Jaire Alexander pick-sixes Will Levis

Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Jaire Alexander collects his first career pick-six courtesy of Will Levis.

Our campaign through the Packers’ top plays of 2024 as voted on by the staff of APC continues today with our #7 play. This time, we’re heading to the Malik Willis era of Green Bay football, specifically his would-be vengeance against the team that drafted him.

The Game​

The Packers were not expected to beat the Tennessee Titans.

That would have been a strange thing to hear at any point prior to the days immediately before the Packers’ Week 3 matchup with Tennessee. But with Jordan Love still fighting the effects of a knee injury sustained in the season opener, oddsmakers installed the Titans as three-point favorites over the Packers, clearly not believing in the possibility of a Malik Willis revenge game.

And to their point, there was some reason to be skeptical. The Packers had pulled out a bizarre game plan the week prior, calling an absurd 53 runs (32 alone for Josh Jacobs) to try to help Willis along, new to Green Bay as he was.

The Packers themselves clearly seemed to believe that Willis was going to need some serious help to beat the Titans, and betting markets didn’t think they’d get it. Fortunately, thanks in large part to one man, they were wrong.

The Situation​

Late in the first quarter, the Packers already held a 10-7 lead over the Titans. Willis had come out throwing, completing a pair of 30-yard passes on the Packers’ first drive en route to a game-opening touchdown. After the Titans tied the game with a touchdown of their own, Willis again maneuvered the Packers down the field, generating 49 yards on two scrambles to set the Packers up for a field goal to take a 10-7 lead and sparking what looked like a quarterback duel between himself and Tennessee’s Will Levis.

Levis, not short on physical gifts, had already developed something of a reputation as a gunslinger early in his second season, albeit one with a tendency to misfire in hilarious ways. With the ball on the Titans’ 31-yard line, Levis came to the line ready to lead another scoring drive.

The Play​

In an empty set, Levis and the Titans were clearly thinking pass to open their drive. And lined up across from DeAndre Hopkins on the right side of the Titans’ formation, Jaire Alexander was clearly keyed in on what Levis was thinking.

Over his six seasons with the Packers, Alexander was never much of an interception-generator. His career high of five picks in 2022 was an outlier; he’d logged five total across his previous four seasons and didn’t make a single interception in the seven games he played in 2023. Health, as with all things related to Alexander, may have played a factor, but even when healthy, he wasn’t coming down with the ball a lot. He missed just four games his first three seasons in the NFL, but managed only four picks in that span. It just wasn’t a significant part of his game.

But he’d already recorded one pick in the 2024 season, taking one off Jalen Hurts in the season opener, and facing the trigger-happy and scattershot Levis, he had eyes on another.

As Levis dropped back to throw, Alexander never took his eyes off the Titans’ quarterback, even as Hopkins bore down on him. For that matter, Alexander hardly took a step as Hopkins ran his route, lurking about eight yards off the line of scrimmage, watching Levis all the while. And the moment Hopkins began to break on his route and Levis cocked his arm to throw, Alexander sprung his trap.

He deftly stepped in front of Hopkins, collected Levis’ ill-advised pass, and cruised 35 yards for a touchdown. Hopkins, never a speedster, gave up on his pursuit of Alexander before the Packers’ defensive back had even reached the Titans’ 15-yard line.

The Impact​

Alexander’s only career pick-six with the Packers gave Green Bay a 17-7 lead, effectively an insurmountable figure for the Will Levis-era Titans. In 21 games with Levis as their starter, the Titans scored more than 17 points just six times. And now trailing by 10 points, the Titans had no choice but to pass, opening Levis up to intense pressure as the Packers pinned their ears back and set to work on Tennessee’s patchwork offensive line.

The Packers hadn’t sacked Levis once prior to the pass, but bolstered by their lead, they teed off, taking him down eight times over the game’s final three quarters. Willis and the Packers offense produced 13 more points, and Green Bay earned another hard-fought victory without their starting quarterback, taking down Tennessee 30-14.

Source: https://www.acmepackingcompany.com/...-2024-7-jaire-alexander-pick-sixes-will-levis

 

[Green Bay Packers]

Packers Top Plays of 2024, #6: Tucker Kraft rumbles for a 66-yard touchdown

Photo by Brooke Sutton/Getty Images

Great play design, a fantastic individual effort from Kraft, and a big momentum shift put this play at #6.

Acme Packing Company’s countdown of the Top Plays of the Green Bay Packers’ 2024 season continues on today with a massive, game-changing touchdown. Tucker Kraft had a late-season breakout as a rookie in 2023, but his 2024 campaign truly cemented him as the team’s tight end of the future.

Perhaps no play better encompasses Kraft’s athletic ability and run-after-the-catch skills than this play from week five, which remains the longest reception of his career to date and shifted the momentum in a critical game in early October. Here’s the play that, for those reasons, ranked #6 on our 2024 countdown.

The Game​

The first four games of the Packers’ 2024 season were bizarre. First came a trip to Brazil and a narrow loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion Eagles, which saw Jordan Love get injured late in the game. Then Malik Willis came in and led the team to a pair of victories in relief, beating the Colts and Titans. Love’s return in week 4, at home against Minnesota, saw the Packers start slowly and rally in the second half, falling just short in a 31-29 loss.

That left the team at 2-2 at the start of October as they traveled west to face the Los Angeles Rams in week five. Meanwhile, the Rams were without their top two receivers, Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp, and had just lost to the Chicago Bears the week before to fall to 1-3.

The Situation​

A back-and-forth first half saw the teams trade rushing touchdowns before Love made perhaps the most bizarre and inexplicable decision of his young career. Trying to throw the ball away out of his own end zone, Love could not get the football out of bounds and instead it landed in the hands of safety Jaylen McCollough for a four-yard pick-six and a 13-7 Rams lead. The Packers closed the gap to 13-10 at halftime on a last-second Brayden Narveson field goal.

The Rams drove into Packers territory on the opening drive of the second half, but Lukas Van Ness forced a fumble by Kyren Williams, and Xavier McKinney recovered for a turnover. After a first down run by Josh Jacobs went for four yards, the Packers faced a 2nd-and-6 from their own 34-yard line.

The Play​

Green Bay set up in 11 personnel, but with Jordan Love flanked by Jacobs to his right and Jayden Reed to his left in the shotgun. Tucker Kraft is aligned on the right side of the offensive line, while Dontayvion Wicks and Bo Melton are split to the left.

At the snap, the running backs both cross the formation. Love fakes a handoff to Reed, who is running behind him to the right of the formation, while Jacobs crosses in front of his quarterback to the left side of the field. Wicks and Melton release down the field, while Kraft leaks out over the middle and then across to the left side.

The motion in the backfield confuses the Rams’ defense, which seems to forget all about Kraft as the wideouts clear space for him over the middle. Love hits him with a perfect throw just outside the numbers at midfield, and Kraft turns to run upfield, seeing 15 yards of empty space in front of him. Wicks is at the 35 lining up a block on safety Quentin Lake as Kraft sprints up the left sideline.

As Kraft slows down a bit to play off Wicks’ block, cornerback Darious Williams tries to play the angle and bring down the big tight end. Instead, Kraft throws a stiff-arm into his chest and pushes him back, creating separation as he looks to go around Wicks and Lake along the sideline. With Lake engaged, another small stiff-arm from Kraft sends him to the ground as he tiptoes through the tackle attempt and scampers into the end zone for a go-ahead touchdown.

Tucker Kraft with the stiff arm and tuddy!

: #GBvsLAR on CBS/Paramount+
: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/fijvAwHlla

— NFL (@NFL) October 6, 2024​

The Impact​

This play would end up being the Packers’ second-longest touchdown of the season. For Kraft, it was his second score on the year (he had found the end zone the week prior against Minnesota), and he would go on to score seven in total in his sophomore campaign.

Most importantly, this touchdown shifted the momentum early in the second half, giving the Packers a 17-13 lead. After McKinney recorded an interception on the ensuing Rams drive, Kraft scored a second time in the quarter to extend Green Bay’s lead to 24-13, and the Packers went on to hold off a Rams rally for a 24-19 victory.

Starting with this game, the Packers went on to win four straight games and seven of eight during the months of October and November. A team that went 2-2 in September entered December at 9-3 and squarely in the playoff hunt. But if not for this massive play from their do-it-all tight end to take the lead, they might never have gotten the first of those victories.

Source: https://www.acmepackingcompany.com/...t-rumbles-for-a-66-yard-touchdown-rams-week-5

 

[Green Bay Packers]

Jermichael Finley’s 4-star son makes a college commitment

Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

Kaydon Finley won’t be attending his father’s alma mater.

Here’s your chance to feel old. Former Green Bay Packers tight end Jermichael Finley’s son has made a college decision. The class of 2026 prep is a four-star receiver out of Aledo, Texas, in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Unlike his father, Kaydon Finley won’t be playing at the University of Texas, as the younger Finley chose to commit to the University of Notre Dame over both Texas and Texas A&M.

Four-star wide receiver recruit Kaydon Finley, son of former NFL tight end Jermichael Finley, committed to Notre Dame. pic.twitter.com/KoIvHli47d

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 5, 2025​

Between Finley and Cristian Driver, the Minnesota receiver who is the son of Donald Driver, Midwest programs are benefiting from the Packers’ pass-catching legacy.

It’s been written about before, mostly in the context of the NBA, but there’s an increasing trend of former professional athletes being the fathers of players who make it to the higher levels in sports. At Notre Dame football alone, the Fighting Irish have recently had Jordan Clark, son of Ryan Clark, and Kennedy Urlacher, son of Brian Urlacher, in the same safety room. There’s also Antonio Gates Jr. running around at receiver for Michigan State, Emmitt Smith’s kid at Texas A&M and former NFL offensive lineman Dylan Raiola raised Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola, who looks poised to be a first-round pick one day.

In the last NFL draft alone, we saw Shedeur Sanders, son of Deion Sanders, and Mason Taylor, son of Jason Taylor, get taken by pro squads. With how efficient the scouting, recruiting and development processes are now with young athletes, it would be a massive upset if this is the last Packers’ son you hear about being a major target for college teams.

Source: https://www.acmepackingcompany.com/...on-college-decision-notre-dame-fighting-irish

 

[Green Bay Packers]

Packers Film Room: Stealing a QB run for 2025

Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Let’s dig into the Eagles playbook and take a core Power Spread play.

Last week, I wrote about the offensive approach we may see out of the Packers this year. The short version is that I’m looking for more of a Power Spread approach, which calls for the dudes on the offensive line to move people, the wide receivers to spread out wide and run defenders off more than engage in intense blocking, and a QB who can run.

To be clear, this would mark a fairly significant shift from how the Packers have operated in the past but, given the pieces they have, it’s an approach that I think would make a lot of sense.

With that in mind, I’ve started looking around the league for offenses that run plays out of a similar structure. The idea is to find the plays out of those looks that I like, then see how they may work with the Packers personnel.

We’re starting off with a bang. If we’re talking spread, we might as well start with a full spread look, running a concept you’ll need to run if you want to maximize Power Spread. It’s a simple-yet-beautiful concept called GT Counter Bash.

The Eagles are running this out of 11 personnel (1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WR) with an empty backfield. Kenneth Gainwell [14] is the RB, and he starts the play split wide on the right. He motions in pre-snap, dragging the defender with him to the left side of the formation.

At the snap, Jalen Hurts [1] fakes the handoff to Gainwell while his left guard (Landon Dickerson [69]) and left tackle (Fred Johnson [74]) pull to the right, away from the motion of Gainwell. (The Guard and Tackle pulling are what makes up the “GT” in “GT Counter Bash”).

Hurts fades slightly with the fake, takes a step back then run behinds Dickerson and Johnson.

The Eagles catch the Jaguars with a lot of men at the line, and all of those men playing the Gainwell motion. That leads to some advantageous blocking angles, and Hurts gallops (untouched) for a TD.

So how would this look with the 2025 Green Bay Packers? We’ll start with the line.

I know there are a couple of positions that haven’t been finalized yet so this may not be the starting line, but it’s what I’m going with with at the moment. We’ve got Rasheed Walker [63] at LT, Aaron Banks [65] at LG, Elgton Jenkins [74] at C, Anthony Belton [71] at RG and Zach Tom [50] at RT. Ideally, Jordan Morgan would win the LT job, but, for now, I’m going with Walker there.

At RB, I’m going with MarShawn Lloyd [32] for the same reason the Eagles went with Gainwell: he’s the most dynamic RB. We need an immediate reaction — a forced false step — up front, and putting a guy with the speed/explosiveness of Lloyd in that role is the best way to do that.

For the WRs, I’ve got Dontayvion Wicks [13], Matthew Golden [22] and Jayden Reed [11]. As you probably noticed in the clips, the receivers aren’t asked to do much besides run straight down the field and remove the defenders that way, so I want a couple dynamic receivers on the inside, and our best blocking WR on the perimeter, just to sell the fake.

At TE I’ve got Tucker Kraft [85]. If his only job is to run off the defender, you could put Luke Musgrave in that role and I would have no issue with it. But, since you’re running to that side and will likely be in need of downfield blocking, I’m putting Kraft there.

Running to the right with that line is one of the reasons I hope Morgan wins the LT job over Walker. Walker would be fine, but Morgan is a better mover than Walker, which would really help out here. If we really want to dream a bit, Belton winning LT and Morgan at RG would work nicely, because then you’ve got a good mover in Belton who could absolutely lay someone out in space.

Running to the left makes for a nicer look, just based on who we’d have as pullers.

With Belton penciled in at RG, that gives us a duo of Belton and Tom as pullers. Not a bad tandem to lead your QB around the edge and into space.

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Albums listened to: Brother Bird - Another Year; Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math; Nilüfer Yanya - Dancing Shoes EP

Source: https://www.acmepackingcompany.com/...5-eagles-power-spread-jalen-hurts-jordan-love

 

[Green Bay Packers]

Packers All-Quarter Century Team: It’s Time for Tight Ends

Photo by Mike McGinnis/Getty Images

This one should be quite competitive!

In our continuing series on the Packers All-Quarter Century Team, let’s take a look at the big boy pass catchers. Those who straddle the line between receiver and, uhm, line. The line, line. It’s tight end time!

The Packers have quite the list of candidates for tight end this century. We have reliable security blankets, elite blockers, big-play specialists, well-loved internet characters, and Donald Lee. You could make the case for several of these guys, so let’s get to it!

Tight Ends Nominees​

Note: All stats shown are as a member of the Green Bay Packers only, from the 2000 through 2024 seasons only.

Bubba Franks (2000-2008)​

3x Pro Bowl

Regular season stats: 122 games, 262 receptions, 2347 yards, 32 touchdowns, 64.7% Catch&, 9 Y/R

Postseason stats: 8 games, 12 catches, 149 yards, 3 TDs, 54.5% Catch%, 12.4 Y/R

How you feel about Bubba is going to depend heavily on how you value receiving touchdowns. Since the merger, there are only 17 players in NFL history who scored a touchdown on a higher percentage of their total receptions than Franks, which is something to be sure. BUT, Franks’ 64.7% catch percentage isn’t exactly the mark of some surehanded wunderkind. I mean, Donald Lee caught almost 70% of his targets and he was running much more difficult routes. There is the “Favre throwing as hard as he can” factor of course, and Bubba was on the receiving end of a fair number of those as a trusted tight-window target, but also, maybe if he would have been a bit more open?

Then again, Bubba, as his name would suggest, was also an excellent blocker (you don’t get to be a Bubba by hauling in 30-yard bombs down the seam), and perhaps it’s enough to simply note that the excellent blocker of the early 2000s was also a phenom around the end zone, and as a 3-time pro bowler, was recognized as such by his peers.

Donald Lee (2005-2010)​

Regular season stats: 49 games, 178 receptions, 1655 yards, 17 TDs, 69.8% Catch%, 9.7 Y/R

Postseason stats: 7 games, 5 receptions, 51 yards, 1 TDs, 50% Catch%, 10.1 Y/R

Hey, those stats aren’t bad! Lee’s 2007 season is actually quite impressive, though I have to confess, I’m surprised that he only averaged 9.7 Y/R as a Packer. My memory of Lee is of a true “big receiver” type stretching the field, and not getting as many opportunities as I thought he should, but that Y/R number and the 17 TDs resemble more of a half-Bubba than a proto-Finley. Of course, Donald also had the misfortune of playing his entire Packer career in the late-Favre/early Rodgers era without really enjoying the peak of either player.

Lee had solid hands, a knack for finding the end zone, and may be a bit underrated historically as a receiver. Unfortunately, my pining for him to be on the field more was likely the result of substandard blocking, and even catch-first TEs need to be able to block a little.

Jermichael Finley (2008-2013)​

Regular season stats: 70 games played, 223 receptions, 2785 yards, 20 TDs, 69% Catch%, 12.5 Y/R

Postseason stats: 4 games played, 15 receptions, 241 yards, 0 TDs, 57.7% Catch%, 16.1 Y/R

With Finley, let’s not focus on what could have been, and instead celebrate what was. While the man was injured frequently during his career and was forced into retirement early due to a spinal cord injury, he was great when he was on the field.

The 2011 Packers were one of the best offenses to ever play, and the only Packers to out-target the tight end on that team were Greg Jennings (101) and Jordy Nelson (96). Finley was targeted 92 times, scored 8 touchdowns (also third to Jennings and Nelson), and was more productive than Donald Driver, James Jones, and Randall Cobb.

Finley was a matchup nightmare because linebackers just couldn’t handle him, and while he was never a great blocker, it almost didn’t matter, because if you left a player on the field who could get around Finley the blocker, Finley the receiver would burn you for 40 yards. The Packers have attempted to bring in a new version of Finley a few times with Jared Cook and Luke Musgrave serving as prominent examples, and if you saw just how good the offense was with him, you understand why. In theory tight ends should be well-rounded, multi-faceted players, but there’s something to be said for a guy who excels in just one of those key aspects. In the ill-fated playoff game against the Cardinals at the end of the 2009 season, Finley caught 6 balls for 159 yards.

Andrew Quarless (2010-2015)​

Regular season stats: 60 games, 89 receptions, 940 yards, 6 TDs, 63.1% Catch%, 10.6 Y/R

Postseason stats: 8 games, 10 receptions, 85 yards, 1 TDs, 62.5% Catch%, 8.5 Y/R

If you want to vote for Quarless for accidentally breaking Joe Paterno’s leg in 2006, I’m fine with that. Unfortunately, Quarless never quite lived up to the hype, and as his career largely overlapped with Finley, his opportunities were highly dependent on Finley’s availability, and his own, as he was injured a fair amount.

Quarless was, to his credit, a well-above-average blocker, and a pretty nifty receiver, and was willing to perform in either role as needed, but he also could never quite put it all together.

Tom Crabtree (2010-2013)​

Regular season stats: 53 games, 22 receptions, 323 yards, 5 TDs, 64.7% Catch%, 14.7 Y/R

Postseason stats: 7 games, 3 receptions, 18 yards, 1 TD, 42% Catch%, 6 Y/R

Earlier this week I wrote about Jayden Reed’s 70-yard touchdown catch against the Eagles in Brazil last year, the longest of his career. Perhaps someday, Jayden will catch a touchdown pass longer than Crabtree’s 72-yarder against the Cardinals in 2012.

Crabtree will always be remembered as a fun player who, in addition to this big play, also once caught a fake field goal touchdown from Tim Masthay against the Bears. By all accounts, Crabtree is an entertaining personality, likely a solid locker room presence, and he was always a willing special teamer who made the most of his offensive opportunities when they arose.

Crabtree is fun, and if you want to vote for fun, hey, go for it.

Richard Rodgers (2014-2017)​

Regular season stats: 24 games, 120 receptions, 1166 yards, 13 TDs, 66.3% Catch%, 9.7 Y/R

Postseason stats: 7 games, 13 receptions, 138 yards, 2 TDs, 65% Catch%, 10.6 Y/R

The man who caught the famous Rodgers Hail Mary to defeat the Lions, mostly because he was the last one down the field on account of being incredibly slow, actually wound up playing more for non-Packer teams than he did for the Green and Gold. He peaked in 2015 with a Franksian 510-yard, 8 TD performance, while averaging 8.8 yards per reception, and served admirably as the traditional “block-first, run slow and catch TDs second” archetype that the Packers so love.

Rodgers was perfectly fine in the McCarthy offense and will always be a part of one of the greatest highlights in team history.

Jared Cook (2016)​

Regular season stats: 10 games, 30 receptions, 377 yards, 1 TD, 58.8% Catch%, 12.6 Y/R

Postseason stats: 3 games, 18 receptions, 229 yards, 2 TDs, 56.3% Catch%, 12.7 Y/R

It might seem ridiculous to vote for Cook just based on the fact that he was only here for one season, and he was hurt for most of it. Then again, when you check out the playoff stats compared to the regular season stats and remember just how important he was to a deep Packer playoff run, including his amazing sideline catch against Dallas, and you can make a decent case just based on playoff leverage. He was even one of the better performers in their eventual loss to Atlanta.

In some ways the Packers were looking for a Jared Cook for the entire post-Finley era and have been looking for another one since Cook moved on (though that search is likely over). He is one of the best pure receiving tight ends that the franchise has ever had, they just didn’t have him for very long.

Marcedes Lewis (2018-2022)​

Regular season stats: 81 games, 57 receptions, 582 yards, 6 TDs, 76% Catch%, 10.2 Y/R Postseason stats: 5 games, 6 receptions, 42 yards, 0 TDs, 100% Catch%, 7 Y/R

Lewis is probably a decent comp for Bubba actually, and over the course of his storied 19-year career, he has debatably been the best blocking tight end in football, while still able to contribute in the passing game when called upon to do so. His 10.2 Y/R isn’t even terrible for a blocking TE (Bubba was a flat 9), especially given his reputation as the equivalent of an extra tackle.

The issue with Lewis is simply that he wasn’t here very long, and it was well after his Jacksonville prime. We got old man Lewis, who was still very good, but more of a gimmick/leakout guy who was REALLY just there to block, versus the dual threat he was early in his career. On the 2010 David Garrard-led Jaguars, Lewis had 700 yards and 10 TDs. The man played for some awful teams in Jacksonville, and had he instead gotten to play with the Favre/Rodgers combo for his prime, there’s a good chance he looks like more of a Turbo-Franks in retrospect. But for our purposes, we have five seasons of blocking excellence, and a great locker-room presence.

Tucker Kraft (2023-2024)​

Regular season stats: 34 games, 81 receptions, 1062 yards, 9 TDs, 73.6% Catch%, 13.1 Y/R

Postseason stats: 3 games, 10 receptions, 50 yards, 1 TDs, 71.4% Catch%, 5 Y/R

While it’s premature to have Kraft on this list, I won’t blame anyone who votes for him because I suspect three years from now, he will be the obvious choice. Only Marcedes caught a higher percentage of targets, only Tom Crabtree has a higher yards per catch number than Kraft, and while everyone else on this list gives something away as a blocker or as a receiver, or simply due to health, Kraft is the total package. While not the blocking phenom that Lewis or Franks were, he’s far better than most on the list while also being maybe the best receiver? Whenever I graph out similarity scores for Kraft, the only other names that really show up are George Kittle and Travis Kelce, and while Jermichael Finley was a star when healthy, he never really had a season better than Kraft’s 2024 as a receiver (though his 2011 is close, although with worse blocking).

The sample size with Kraft is small, but so far, he looks like an absolute star, and I’m fine with anyone who wants to bet on the future here.

Source: https://www.acmepackingcompany.com/...-quarter-century-team-its-time-for-tight-ends