It was around the fall of 2019 or early 2020 when Tucker Kraft was talking on the phone with his mom. Despite not yet playing in a college football game as a redshirt at South Dakota State, and despite only getting two Division 1 offers, Kraft confidently proclaimed on the phone that he was going to play in the NFL.
Kraft’s belief in that statement never wavered.
It didn’t when an injury slowed down a promising debut season in the spring of 2021. It didn’t when he declined six-figure NIL offers from Power Five programs in the 2022 summer. It didn’t when he injured his ankle early in Game 1 of the season. It didn’t when he decided to return to action several weeks later instead of playing it safe and not risking further injury. And it didn’t when he declared for the NFL Draft as a junior, a rare decision for an FCS player.
Continually reaching his goals as adversity hit in his personal life and football life had Kraft believing nothing would stop him from his ultimate goal of playing in the NFL.
“It was intrinsic motivation,” Kraft told HERO Sports when asked what made him say that to his mom. “I never really had to have someone push me. My dad passed away when I was 12. My mom was really sick when I was a junior and senior. I come from a town that doesn’t have an athletic training staff or a strength coach. But I put on 40 pounds going into my senior year on my own from March to June. I put on the weight needed for my frame to play at the Division 1 level. From there on, it carried over to other things. If I can do that stuff in the weight room, I can do that stuff in the film room. I can do that stuff on the field. When you have that hard-work motor constantly turning over in your chest, you can do a lot of things in life. My passion just happens to be football. And that’s a very great coincidence.”
A very great coincidence indeed for a 6-foot-5, 255-pounder with strength, speed, and agility. Paired with his belief and internal drive, his dream is becoming reality as Kraft is one of the top tight ends in the 2023 draft.
What Team Drafted Tucker Kraft?
South Dakota State TE Tucker Kraft was drafted by Green Bay in the 3rd round with the 78th overall pick
A Hidden Gem
A lot of FCS-to-the-NFL stories read the same. Guys from small towns and/or late-bloomers get overlooked by the FBS, they go to the FCS, and they develop into NFL prospects over time. It’s what happened with fellow Missouri Valley Football Conference players like North Dakota State’s Cody Mauch and Northern Iowa’s Trevor Penning.
That wasn’t totally the case with Kraft. At least the underdeveloped part.
Kraft was a type of high school recruit that Power Five programs drool over. He was 6-foot-4 and 245 pounds with track speed as a senior, running for 1,405 yards and 24 touchdowns. But not many D1 schools knew about him. He was from Timber Lake, SD, a town of around 500 people that played 9-man football.
Several D2 schools offered Kraft. SDSU invited him to their summer camp, then was the first D1 program to offer him a few days after, a 70% scholarship. That turned into a full-ride offer when FBS Wyoming offered Kraft during his senior season. Kraft committed to the Jackrabbits, the first in his class.
A program-defining career followed.
Finishing A Jackrabbit
Kraft’s SDSU career could have ended early at two different points.
After showing great promise as a redshirt freshman in the 2021 spring season despite being slowed by an injury, Kraft burst onto the scene in the 2021 fall. He caught 65 passes for 773 yards and six TDs, getting named on numerous All-American teams.
By the time the offseason hit heading into the 2022 season, Kraft wasn’t just on the NFL radar, he was on the radar of Power Five teams.
Tampering is no secret in college football. And it happened to Kraft when he was offered six-figure NIL deals to play elsewhere.
Kraft remained loyal to SDSU. But he was teetering for a bit.
“Just that belief I had about my playing career at South Dakota State as well as the coaching staff … like, at one point I was one click away from entering my name in the portal,” he said. “But the last few conversations I had with some of the coaches on staff, and with my best friends I’ve ever had, my roommates Adam Bock and Kevin Brenner, it made me realize that I built relationships in the last three years that are insurmountable compared to a six-figure deal to go play somewhere else. And my draft stock isn’t going to rise if I went and played in the SEC or the Pac-12. I was already at that point as a top tight end in the next year’s draft. So I realized that I was going to stay at South Dakota State, try and catch 100 balls, have four pancakes a game, and I’m going to enjoy this last season with my friends. Obviously, some of that didn’t happen for me because I got injured.”
Kraft anticipated season barely got started. He got hurt on the first drive in the season-opener at Iowa, suffering two partial lower-leg/ankle tears (syndesmosis and deltoid), which had to be surgically repaired.
Already thought of as a Top 100 pick in the 2023 draft, it would have been understandable if the Iowa game was Kraft’s last in an SDSU uniform, for him to just rehab after his surgery and get/stay healthy for the draft process.
But that thought never crossed his mind, once again staying loyal to his school.
“I just had faith,” Kraft said. “I had faith in my surgeon and in the training staff and in myself. Finding that gear to get up every morning at 5:30 for six weeks to literally push my ankle back and forth for 30 minutes before I can walk in a straight line comfortably. And the thousands of lunges I did, or box jumps, single-leg squats, it was really how bad I wanted it … I never thought for a moment that I wasn’t going to come back and play.”
Kraft returned to action on Oct. 22. He finished the season with 27 catches for 348 yards and three TDs. More importantly, his run-blocking and just his presence on the field helped the Jackrabbits to their first-ever FCS national championship, beating rival NDSU 45-21.
“After we won in the semifinals, I realized even more that I was meant to be here,” Kraft said. “And I had zero doubt in my mind that we were going to lose the national title game against North Dakota State. And that showed on the field. Not a single person thought we were going to lose that game for a second.”
Draft Stock Soaring
A day after the historic title game win, Kraft got on a flight to Nashville to start training for the draft.
Because Kraft wasn’t set to get his college degree until next fall and not this spring, and because he was in school for four years, those rules prevented him from getting invited to an all-star game. He will be heading to the NFL Combine, which is held from Feb 28 to March 6.
Kraft has had plenty of contact already with NFL teams, everything from Zoom psych exams, get-to-know-you phone calls, and surveys about personality and medical history.
Listed at 6-foot-5 and 255 pounds on SDSU’s 2022 roster, Kraft hopes to run well, catch every ball, and be prepared for whatever questions are thrown his way during interviews at the combine. If he does so, it appears he is a Day 2 lock with the potential to go Day 1.
NFL Draft analysts from The Draft Network, ESPN, and NFL.com are currently projecting Kraft as a second-rounder.
Former SDSU All-American tight end and current Philadelphia Eagles standout Dallas Goedert was drafted in the 2018 second round. Kraft and Goedert have drawn comparisons with their size, play, and being from small-town South Dakota. The Jacks had two draft picks last year in RB Pierre Strong Jr. (fourth round) and QB Chris Oladokun (seventh round).
Kraft has prided himself on the work he’s put in, from putting on the right weight in high school to returning from his ankle injury. So it’s no surprise he is still in an absolute grind right now, not taking a day off besides the one travel day after the national championship.
The work and belief have him a couple of months away from achieving his dream. But while Kraft told his mom a few years ago that he would be at this point, now that he’s here, Kraft hasn’t totally let it sink in yet as he’s still doing what he does best: putting in the work to get him one step closer to being an NFL Draft pick.
“It doesn’t really feel like it yet, you know?” Kraft said. “April is still far away. So I’m focused on what’s about to happen in the next three weeks with the combine. And then getting ready for my pro day. I’m just really dialed in right now on what is to come.”
