Expectations are high for the Green Bay Packers.
Thanks to a talented and exciting young core built through the draft in recent seasons, around wunderkind quarterback Jordan Love, by general manager Brian Gutekunst and staff, Green Bay is considered a legitimate threat to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl this season.
Love’s supporting cast, especially at receiver, in Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed, and Dontavion Wicks are a significant reason for the optimism in TitleTown.
After all, Wicks averaged a paltry 14.9 yards per reception as a rookie after being chosen in the fifth-4ound, Watson caught seven touchdown passes in 14 games, and Reed surpassed all expectations by producing 793 receiving yards as a rookie.
However, it is the Packers’ emphasis on the tight end position that could offer significant upside for Love and the offense in 2024.
Green Bay Packers’ Luke Musgrave a Breakout Star to Watch
Despite suffering an abdominal strain, Musgrave showed all the trappings of being able to develop into an elite pass-catching tight end as a rookie.
Catching 34 passes for 352 yards with a touchdown, when he was healthy, Musgrave looked fully capable of becoming one of Love’s security blankets over the middle of the field and a big-play threat after the catch.
As the 2024 season, Musgrave’s second in the NFL, approaches, CBS Sports’ Josh Edwards put together an “All-Breakout-Team” for the upcoming campaign, with Musgrave his selection at tight end.
“Musgrave missed six games last season and still managed to record 34 receptions for 352 yards,” Edwards points out for CBS. “And one touchdown in a Packers offense that found itself as the season progressed. Musgrave is the prototypical NFL tight end. Another season in the system, an offseason removed of distraction and, hopefully, a return to full health should allow him to have the type of breakout season that Green Bay expected from him when he was taken No. 42 overall.”
If Musgrave can prove to be fully healthy in 2024, the Packers’ offense is going to be even more multi-faceted this season than it was last. Thanks the likes of Watson, Wicks, and Reed stretching the field, Josh Jacobs as a bruising but explosive running back and Musgrave potentially dominating over the middle, Love and the Packers have the pieces to take a major step forward this fall.
“He loves football, he’s tough, he’s made of the right stuff. So those are the guys that you really love having on your team because he’s going to do whatever he can to play on Sundays for sure.”
“He’s a guy that we have a lot of faith in,” Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said of Musgrave. “And I think he’s going to continue to grow. It’s going to be a process. It won’t be overnight. I think all of us want everything done like yesterday, but he’s a guy that I really believe that every time we go out there he gets better at something. He’s so intentional, so focused, he’s very intelligent, super coachable and I think he loves the game. So, it’s fun to coach a guy like that.”
