Green Bay Packers take Tucker Kraft with pick No. 78
The Green Bay Packers drafted former South Dakota State star Tucker Kraft with the No. 78 overall selection in the 2023 NFL Draft on Friday night. The Packers are officially in rebuild mode and need to re-tool on offense, and selecting Kraft in the third round goes a long way in furthering that process. Kraft’s best season came in 2021, when he hauled in 773 receiving yards and six touchdowns. for the Jackrabbits. In 2022, he hauled in 27 catches for 348 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
The South Dakota State Jackrabbits won the national title in 2022, leading to the retirement of their head coach John Stiegelmeier after 26 seasons. Kraft was a significant part of the offense and helped pave the way for the top SDSU running backs to notch 1,451 and 744 yards.
With their second pick of the second round, Green Bay added some much-needed help at wide receiver by way of Jayden Reed.
Day two picks can be challenging to nail, and during Brian Gutekunst’s time as the Packers GM, he has landed some quality talent in the second. But, at the same time, he’s had a few whiffs in the third round of the NFL draft. In the Packers’ most recent drafts, they have selected the likes of Elgton Jenkins, AJ Dillon, Josh Myers, and, most recently, in 2022, Christian Watson. In contrast, in the following round, Green Bay has missed on Oren Burks, Jace Sternberger, and Amari Rodgers. Last year’s third-round pick, offensive lineman Sean Rhyan could find himself in that category if he fails to carve out a role on the offensive line for the second season in a row.
The youth movement is fully underway in Green Bay. The Packers missed the playoffs for the first time since their 6-9-1 2018 season. And similar to that year, failing to make the playoffs set off a major change for the franchise. This season’s major move; deciding to part ways with former MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers and handing the keys to the franchise over to Love.
After around two months of back and forth between the Packers and Jets, Green Bay officially agreed to send Rodgers to New York. Green Bay received precisely what they needed to jump-start this rebuild in a ton of draft capital in this year’s draft. The Packers swapped first-round picks with the Jets, moving from 15 to 13. They also picked up an additional second-round selection, No. 42, and a sixth-rounder. Green Bay also received a little future equity in a 2024 second-round pick that has the possibility to become a first-rounder depending on the number of snaps Rodgers takes in New York.
On3’s Justin Rudolph and Nikki Chavanelle also contributed to this article.