Tight finish Tucker Kraft took uncommon FCS path to 2023 NFL Draft alternative
The video clips are nonetheless on the market, those that the South Dakota State teaching workers noticed of Tucker Kraft operating over and round opponents as he starred for tiny Timber Lake Excessive College in tiny Timber Lake, S.D..
The city is so small — with a inhabitants of about 500 — that Timber Lake performed nine-man soccer, so there have been solely three linemen.
“It was totally different,’’ mentioned South Dakota State offensive coordinator Zach Lujan, who helped recruit Kraft. “It wasn’t simply that it was nine-man [football]. It was actually watching a person amongst boys. He was on the market, 6-5, 225 and just about everybody else was 5-10, 160.”
He was so dominant that Timber Lake head coach Ryan Gimbel used Kraft at a number of positions beginning throughout his freshman 12 months.
“We had him at tight finish and defensive finish after which moved him to quarterback and even operating again,’’ mentioned Gimbel, who coached Kraft in each soccer and monitor and area on the college positioned about 120 miles south of Bismarck, N.D. “And we additionally used him as a guard. He performed nearly each place for us, since he was so athletic.”
However it’s at tight finish that Kraft has made his mark in school, the place he was a standout at South Dakota State and is ready to be chosen within the NFL draft, which begins April 27 in Kansas Metropolis, Mo.
Some mock drafts have him going within the first three rounds.
Kraft’s path to the NFL is uncommon, however not precisely extraordinary.
Actually, Dallas Goedert of the Eagles additionally grew up taking part in nine-man soccer in South Dakota earlier than breaking out at South Dakota State on his approach to being chosen by the Eagles within the second spherical of the 2018 draft.
“Guys like Dallas pave the way in which,’’ Kraft wrote on Twitter.
However it wasn’t at all times a clean highway for Kraft.
When he arrived to the campus in Brookings, Lujan mentioned Kraft “was a diamond within the tough.”
“It was fairly an adjustment for him,’’ Lujan mentioned. “After per week of fall camp, our line of defense coach mentioned he may make him an NFL defensive finish. He was only a pure athlete, however he was drowning early on. He needed to study a very new method of taking part in, from a personnel standpoint and he needed to learn to play his place in a very new method, together with his hand on the bottom. It took a few 12 months and a half, however he’s a tough employee.”
He bought some additional time to determine it out when the FCS postponed the 2020 season resulting from COVID and pushed it to the spring of 2021.
Kraft, although, suffered an harm that restricted him to seven video games that season.
He performed in all 15 video games as a junior in 2021 earlier than an ankle harm sidelined him for a month.
However Kraft returned in October and helped lead the Jackrabbits to the FCS title, beating rival North Dakota State within the championship recreation in January, with Kraft making a pair of catches.
His influence was made in different methods, which is what South Dakota State tight ends coach Chris Meyers says additionally units him up properly for the subsequent stage.
“What makes him totally different than all people else on this draft class is that lots of guys produce equally to him in receiving, however his willingness to dam and execute is pretty much as good as anybody,’’ Meyers mentioned of Kraft, who’s now 6-foot-5, 260. “He likes to hit folks. Some guys are simply on the market to catch balls and block solely after they need to. Tucker is a dominant blocker. He likes to hit folks.”
That goes again to his days at Timber Lake, when he might be seen operating downfield, with opposing would-be tacklers bouncing off of him.
Gimbel believes the blocking mindset started in highschool and that Kraft was ready to make use of a few of what he picked up in nine-man soccer and apply it to the standard recreation.
“He has that means to dam downfield,’’ Gimbel mentioned. “He grew to become a terrific blocker out of the backfield for us. He knew methods to use his physique to dam a couple of man.”
That trait will little doubt be on show when Kraft will get to the NFL, as he’s identified extra for his blocking means than his route-running, though he’s made strides there, as properly.