He’s big and fast and he can catch and block. What more do you want from a modern TE?
Oregon State’s Luke Musgrave has every physical feature NFL scouts look for in TE’s. Weighing in at 6’6” and 255 pounds, Musgrave turned heads by running a 4.61 40 yard dash at the scouting combine this past week, the fourth fastest time for a TE even at his size. Musgrave ended up with a 9.95 Relative Athletic Score (RAS), which should be particularly noteworthy for Packers fans as Green Bay’s most recent draftees in the high rounds have all boasted impressive RAS numbers.
Despite the impressive physical measurements Musgrave had only 169 receiving yards and 1 receiving TD this past college football season. After averaging over 15 yards per reception to begin the Beavers season, Musgrave suffered a season ending knee injury, limiting his senior collegiate year to two games.
In his junior and only full collegiate season, Musgrave put up a respectable if not overly impressive statline of 304 yards on 22 catches and one touchdown. The talented Oregon State products lack of experience and impressive statistics may hurt him on draft day.
He’s caught the attention of ESPN draft specialist Mel Kiper, who gives Musgrave a fair chance to be the number one TE off the board.
“A knee injury ended his 2022 season after two games, but he was emerging as a star,” Kiper wrote about Musgrave in a mock draft. “Though he had just 47 career catches for the Beavers, his potential is immense.
Pro Football Focus’s lead draft analyst Mike Renner would agree with Kiper.
“Musgrave was an animal in the two games we saw from him in 2022,” Renner said. “It was the kind of tape that would get a player drafted in the first round if it continued all year long.”
“Musgrave was an animal in the two games we saw from him in 2022. It was the kind of tape that would get a player drafted in the first round if it continued all year long.”
-PFF Lead Draft Analyst Mike Renner
Football runs in the Musgrave family. Luke’s father, Doug Musgrave, lettered in football in 1991 and 1992 while playing quarterback for the University of Oregon. Luke’s uncle, Bill Musgrave played quarterback for seven years (1991-1998) in the NFL for several teams and is currently a senior offensive assistant for the Cleveland Browns.
A consensus three star recruit (as well as a top 5 recruit in the state of Oregon) out of Bend Senior Highschool in Bend, Oregon, Luke played four sports (lacrosse, track, and ski racing along with football) while attending highschool, showcasing the incredible athleticism that will soon make him a very rich young man.
Out of the four TE’s (Musgrave along with Darnell Washington, Michael Mayer, and Dalton Kincaid) considered to be the “cream of the crop” of this year’s excellent TE class, Musgrave is the fastest one of the bunch with his 4.61 40.
While there may not be a large enough sample size for teams to be fully comfortable spending a #1 draft pick on Musgrave, the athletic potential and his stellar (if limited) tape will make Luke Musgrave a high draft pick in April.
