Football's all about adjustments. Offenses adjust to what the defense is doing, and defenses in turn go and readjust to how offenses respond. Whether it's on-field matchups or even year-long roster trends, everyone in a football organization – from the top down – spends, like, 75% of their time figuring out how to adjust.
Tucker Kraft's no exception.
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Kraft, who's emerged as one of the Packers' best young players on a roster full of them, will head into his third pro season with the expectation that he spent the offseason – say it with me – adjusting to how he's played the prior two.
And from a recent profile on the Packers' website about Kraft, it sounds like one of the major changes he's made is also a tremendously large bummer for us. (But, sigh, it's probably good for the team.)
It sure sounds like Tucker Kraft's headbutting days are over
"I really want to take that upon myself this year to lead with my playstyle like I may have done last year, but also with more words, not just headbutts," Kraft said. "Going into our two-tight end packages with Luke this year, we're gonna have to find ways to spread that wealth around because the tight end room, we're gonna be relied on heavily this year."
I don't love it, but so be it. Headbutting is probably not the quickest path to a 10-year career in the NFL. But it does set a tone! And I'll miss watching Kraft set that tone, personally. Every good NFL team has a guy who's just absolutely willing to head butt at a moment's notice. But given [gestures at the past two decades of concussion studies], it's probably the smart decision. And when I say 'probably,' I actually mean 'definitely,' I'm just still in the denial phase of mourning.
We'll always have that year when Tucker Kraft was just out here head-butting dudes – no one can ever take that away from us. Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened. May we all strive to lead more with words, not just head butts.