Tre Tucker – Syndication Server

Raiders Week 7 snap counts vs Rams: Who filled in at receiver with Jakobi Meyers OUT

With Davante Adams traded away and Jakobi Meyers again out with injury, the Raiders had to cobble together a wide receiver corps vs the Rams

It is becoming increasingly obvious with each game the lack of star power on this Raiders team. Obviously it starts at quarterback where it clearly hasn’t mattered whether it’s Aidan O’Connell or Gardner Minshew behind center. But it extends well beyond that.

Several of the team’s biggest stars heading into this season were not on the field or not on the roster for Sunday’s game in Los Angeles. Including Davante Adams who was traded to the Jets and Christian Wilkins who is on injured reserve.

At receiver in particular, they were also without start Jakobi Meyers who has an ankle injury.

Leading the way in snaps for the Raiders were Tre Tucker and DJ Turner, both of whom plaed 75 snaps (95%). That takes care of one outside receiver spot (Tucker) and the slot (Turner).

For the other receiver spot, the duties were split between recent practice squad players Alex Bachman and Kristian Wilkerson; neither of whom got a single target. So, yeah, not really what you want.

It was a four-man rotation at defensive tackle of Adam Butler, John Jenkins, Jonah Laulu, and Matthew Butler.

Offense				Spec Tms
Player	Pos	Num	Pct	Num	Pct
Jackson Powers-Johnson	G	79	100%	5	18%
Kolton Miller	T	79	100%	5	18%
Jordan Meredith	G	79	100%	5	18%
DJ Glaze	T	79	100%	5	18%
Andre James	C	79	100%	0	0%
DJ Turner	WR	75	95%	7	25%
Tre Tucker	WR	75	95%	0	0%
Brock Bowers	TE	66	84%	0	0%
Gardner Minshew II	QB	65	82%	0	0%
Alexander Mattison	RB	55	70%	0	0%
Alex Bachman	WR	36	46%	12	43%
Harrison Bryant	TE	23	29%	4	14%
Kristian Wilkerson	WR	18	23%	6	21%
John Samuel Shenker	TE	14	18%	11	39%
Aidan O’Connell	QB	14	18%	0	0%
Ameer Abdullah	RB	13	16%	15	54%
Zamir White	RB	11	14%	0	0%
Justin Shorter	TE	3	4%	12	43%
Andrus Peat	G	3	4%	5	18%
Thayer Munford	T	3	4%	5	18%
Defense				Spec Tms
Player	Pos	Num	Pct	Num	Pct
Isaiah Pola-Mao	FS	55	100%	7	25%
Maxx Crosby	DE	55	100%	1	4%
Tre’von Moehrig	FS	55	100%	0	0%
Robert Spillane	LB	55	100%	0	0%
Jack Jones	CB	53	96%	0	0%
Divine Deablo	LB	51	93%	11	39%
Nate Hobbs	CB	48	87%	0	0%
Jakorian Bennett	CB	44	80%	0	0%
Adam Butler	DT	36	65%	5	18%
John Jenkins	DT	34	62%	7	25%
Tyree Wilson	DE	30	55%	3	11%
Jonah Laulu	DT	27	49%	6	21%
K’Lavon Chaisson	LB	22	40%	1	4%
Matthew Butler	DT	16	29%	4	14%
Charles Snowden	DE	11	20%	11	39%
Decamerion Richardson	CB	9	16%	16	57%
Thomas Harper	FS	4	7%	16	57%
Special Teams				Spec Tms
Player	Pos	Num	Pct	Num	Pct
Amari Gainer	LB	0	0%	23	82%
Amari Burney	LB	0	0%	23	82%
Christopher Smith	SS	0	0%	16	57%
Trey Taylor	SS	0	0%	12	43%
Daniel Carlson	K	0	0%	10	36%
Jacob Bobenmoyer	LS	0	0%	9	32%
AJ Cole III	P	0	0%	9	32%
Darnay Holmes	CB	0	0%	7	25%
Nesta Jade Silvera	DT	0	0%	7	25%
Cody Whitehair	G	0	0%	5	18%
Tyreik McAllister	RB	0	0%	2	7%

Raiders only full time starting WR had zero touches Week 6 despite playing nearly every snap

The Raiders only starting receiver played nearly every snap vs the Steelers and had zero touches

With Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers OUT for this game, the only wide receiver on the Raiders’ roster was Tre Tucker. So, you’d figure he would be a big part of the offense. Yeah, about that…

Tucker played all but three snaps in the game (62), but didn’t have a single catch or carry to show for it.

It wasn’t really his fault. He was only targeted twice in the game and the first one didn’t come until the final seconds of the second quarter.

Tucker is a weapon for this team, with his speed and improved catching abilities this season. But while Aidan O’Connell and the Raiders offense was searching for answers, they oddly weren’t looking to Tucker much to find it.

Offense				Spec tms
Player	Pos	Num	Pct	Num	Pct
Delmar Glaze	T	63	100%	1	4%
Jackson Powers-Johnson	G	63	100%	1	4%
Kolton Miller	T	63	100%	1	4%
Andre James	C	63	100%	0	0%
Aidan O’Connell	QB	63	100%	0	0%
Tre Tucker	WR	60	95%	0	0%
Brock Bowers	TE	50	79%	0	0%
Jordan Meredith	G	43	68%	1	4%
Alexander Mattison	RB	43	68%	0	0%
DJ Turner	WR	42	67%	2	8%
Harrison Bryant	TE	36	57%	8	32%
Alex Bachman	WR	27	43%	14	56%
Kristian Wilkerson	WR	27	43%	0	0%
Dylan Parham	G	20	32%	1	4%
Ameer Abdullah	RB	19	30%	15	60%
John Samuel Shenker	TE	8	13%	15	60%
Andrus Peat	G	2	3%	1	4%
Dylan Laube	RB	1	2%	11	44%
Defense				Spec Tms
Player	Pos	Num	Pct	Num	Pct
Isaiah Pola-Mao	FS	67	100%	6	24%
Robert Spillane	LB	67	100%	0	0%
Tre’von Moehrig	FS	67	100%	0	0%
Jack Jones	CB	64	96%	0	0%
Maxx Crosby	DE	63	94%	0	0%
Divine Deablo	LB	62	93%	4	16%
Nate Hobbs	CB	62	93%	0	0%
Adam Butler	DT	56	84%	1	4%
John Jenkins	DT	42	63%	6	24%
Charles Snowden	DE	33	49%	10	40%
Matthew Butler	DT	32	48%	6	24%
Jakorian Bennett	CB	32	48%	0	0%
Jonah Laulu	DT	24	36%	6	24%
K’Lavon Chaisson	LB	24	36%	0	0%
Tyree Wilson	DE	23	34%	5	20%
Nesta Jade Silvera	DT	10	15%	6	24%
Thomas Harper	FS	5	7%	23	92%
Darnay Holmes	CB	4	6%	3	12%
Special Teams				Spec Tms
Player	Pos	Num	Pct	Num	Pct
Kana’i Mauga	LB	0	0%	24	96%
Amari Gainer	LB	0	0%	24	96%
Amari Burney	LB	0	0%	24	96%
Christopher Smith	SS	0	0%	18	72%
Trey Taylor	SS	0	0%	14	56%
Decamerion Richardson	CB	0	0%	8	32%
AJ Cole III	P	0	0%	5	20%
Jacob Bobenmoyer	LS	0	0%	5	20%
Daniel Carlson	K	0	0%	4	16%
Cody Whitehair	G	0	0%	1	4%

3 causes for concern as Raiders face the Steelers Week 6

There are a few areas that are no doubt pretty worrisome for the Raiders against the Steelers Sunday.

While there are some reasons for optimism for the Raiders as they get set to face the Steelers this Sunday, there are also plenty causes for concern. Here are three I’m looking at.

Turnover differential…differential

With these two teams, you have nearly opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to turnovers. The Raiders have literally the worst turnover differential in the league (-7). While the Steelers have the fifth best tunover differential (+4).

Just once has a Steelers QB thrown an interception this season. Meanwhile, the Raiders are tied for the most interceptions thrown in the league (6).

It seems kind of funny, then, that both teams are talking about switching quarterbacks. Clearly the bar for QB play with each team is set at very different heights.

Down two number one receivers?

That’s what the Raiders could be looking at in this game. Davante Adams is set to miss his third game with a hamstring/trade request situation. His fellow starter — and number one receiver replacement the past two weeks — Jakobi Meyers is dealing with an ankle injury that has his status in doubt as well.

The past couple weeks they turned to DJ Turner as their third option behind Meyers and Tre Tucker. If Meyers is out too, Turner could start and it’s hard to say who else will step up considering the only other wide receiver on the roster is Tyreik McAllister. And Tucker, Turner, and McAllister are all very similiar types of receivers.

Suffice to say their options are limited and depth is a huge concern.

Terrible Towel Takeover

Word is this game is a hot ticket. And you can bet it isn’t because Raiders fans are simply much more eager to see their team take on this old rival. It’s because Steelers fans are coming. And with them the Raiders lose anything resembling home field advantage.

Expect Allegiant to be inundated with Terrible Towels. Yeah, the idea that a piece of cloth would be intimidating is laughable. But, really, it’s not about the towel. It’s about the noise of the fans attached to them. And in a covered stadium like this, it will get extremely noisy.

Ballers for Raiders Week 4 win over Browns

Sifting out the notable performances for the Raiders in their win over the Browns.

For the third week in a row, the Raiders went against the grain and shocked the world. Week two it was an improbably win in Baltimore. Week three they were trounced by the winless Panthers. And this week, despite a slew of injuries including to their two best players, they beat the Browns.

They did so by spreading out the Browns’ defense while the Raiders defense completely shut down the Browns offense after the first quarter.

We start with those who were most responsible for that big win.

Ballers

DE Charles Snowden

A month ago, Snowden was cut. Now he’s playing hero for a Raiders team desperate to replace both of the guys they were going to count on to be their starting pass rushers. His biggest play was the last one when he chased down Deshaun Watson on fourth and three to sack him and end the game.

How he even got there is the most impressive part. Snowden came around the right side on a stunt and Watson rolled left, running all the way to the left sideline and Snowden still caught him.

That wasn’t his only big play tho. Two plays before that, he got pressure and batted down a Watson pass. In total, he tied for the team lead with three QB hits and a tackle for loss.

S Isaiah Pola-Mao

That game-ending sack never would have happened if not for Pola-Mao. He made the tackle on the previous play, stopping it short of the sticks to force fourth down. Pola-Mao also made the big play on the Browns’ previous drive, flying over from center field to knock the ball out of the hands of Jerry Jeudy on what was actually a long catch for an instant. He also made the drive stalling tackle on the Browns’ second drive to hold them to a field goal.

WR Tre Tucker

Tucker had a hand in both of the Raiders touchdowns in this game. The first touchdown drive, he made a 14-yard catch on third and seven to keep the drive alive. Then finished it off with an end around from three yards out for the touchdown.

The second touchdown, he laid the final block near the goal line, driving his man out of bounds to ensure DJ Turner could get the final few yards to get in the end zone.

DT Adam Butler

With the leadership void due to the absence of Maxx Crosby, Butler stepped up. He gave a speech to the team inspired by his military upbringing. Then brought that passion to the field. The first third down of the game, he came flying into the backfield on a pass to absolutely bury Deshaun Watson. He was flagged for a horrible roughing the passer penalty, but so what. It wasn’t roughing and the message needed sent.

The next drive ended with a field goal in part because Butler got into the backfield again to make a run stuff for a loss and they couldn’t pick it back up.

The final play of the third quarter for the Raiders’ defense was a sack. Christian Wilkins and Janarius Robinson split credit for it, but Butler was in on it as well, coming right up the gut to ensure the sack sandwich from each side.

The final two Browns’ possessions at the end of the game, Butler had three tackles and a QB hit in which he had Watson wrapped up and off the ground right as the ball was released. The next play, the game was over.

Butler finished tied for second on the team in tackles (six) along with a QB hit (two really) and a tackle for loss.

RB Alexander Mattison

The running game came to life in this game. In part because of the use of jet sweeps and reverses to spread out the defense. But the only back on this team who was consistently making good use of it was Mattison.

He had three huge runs in this game on just five carries. All three of those runs was longer than any run the Raiders had had in the three game to start this season.

The first big run went for 24 yards — double the previous longest run coming in — and it set up the Raiders game-tying field goal before the half. His second big run went for 16 yards to the 19 and the Raiders scored the touchdown around the outside on the next play. His final big run went for 18 yards late in the fourth quarter to help take time off the clock and win the field position battle.

Mattison finished with 60 yards on five carries (12 yards per carry) and Antonio Pierce has said since then that he has earned more carries as a result.

LB Robert Spillane

Once again, Spillane led the team in tackles, putting up double digits for the fourth straight game this season. The first three of those tackles came on the Browns’ opening drive and all for three yards or less.

He made two stops on each of the Browns possessions in the second quarter, including a tackle for loss and a three-and-out.

S Tre’von Moehrig

He had the Raiders only takeaway, hauling in an interception off of Amari Cooper’s chest. It set up the Raiders final touchdown drive. Also on the final Browns drive, Jerome Ford burst for a 35-yard run that might have been a touchdown if not to Moehrig making the tackle at the 16-yard-line.

DT Christian Wilkins

Wilkins tied for the team lead with three QB hits. He also shared a sack and forced a holding penalty that called back a long touchdown that would have put the Browns ahead in the fourth quarter.

Honorable Mention

WR Jakobi Meyers — led the team with 49 yards on five catches and forced a pass interference.

WR DJ Turner — scored a touchdown on a reverse from 19 yards out and would have had a long catch as well, but the pass was overthrown.

TE Brock Bowers — Had a 12-yard run and made a huge block on two defenders that sprung Turner for his 19-yard touchdown.

TE Harrison Bryant — Had several nice blocks including on the 12-yard Bowers run and a 10-yard run that put the Raiders in first and goal on their first TD drive.

P AJ Cole — Two huge punts in the fourth quarter helped to keep the Browns from scoring and hold the Raiders’ 20-16 lead.

Continue to the Busters…

Raiders Week 4 snap counts vs Browns: Who got bulk of playing time replacing injured starters

How did the playing time shake out replacing Raiders injured starters vs Browns

Due to the string of injuries to Raiders starters, the lineup that took the field for them on Sunday was almost unrecognizable.

The offense was without several starters including WR Davante Adams, RT Thayer Munford, and TE Michael Mayer.

In their stead, WR Tre Tucker saw 50 snaps (85%), Harrison Bryant saw 45 snaps (76%), and DJ Glaze saw all 59 offensive snaps at right tackle.

Also making his debut on the offensive line was Jackson Powers-Johnson who played ever snap at guard.

On the defensive side, they were without both original starting defensive ends with Maxx Crosby being lost this week. They also recently lost safety Marcus Epps for the season and were without LB Divine Deablo as well.

The edge rushers were led by Tyree Wilson’s 42 snaps (71%) and K’Lavon Chaisson’s 41 snaps (69%). Then Charles Snowden got 29 snaps (49%) and Janarius Robinson had just eight snaps (14%).

Jack Jones was benched early in the game, giving Darnay Holmes 12 snaps (20%). While Jones would end up playing 39 snaps (66%).

Offense				Spec Tms
Player	Pos	Num	Pct	Num	Pct
Delmar Glaze	T	59	100%	4	15%
Jackson Powers-Johnson	G	59	100%	4	15%
Kolton Miller	T	59	100%	0	0%
Gardner Minshew II	QB	59	100%	0	0%
Andre James	C	59	100%	0	0%
Jakobi Meyers	WR	57	97%	0	0%
Dylan Parham	G	51	86%	4	15%
Tre Tucker	WR	50	85%	3	12%
Brock Bowers	TE	48	81%	0	0%
Harrison Bryant	TE	45	76%	5	19%
Zamir White	RB	35	59%	0	0%
DJ Turner	WR	25	42%	0	0%
Alexander Mattison	RB	21	36%	0	0%
Cody Whitehair	G	8	14%	4	15%
John Samuel Shenker	TE	5	8%	12	46%
Tyreik McAllister	RB	4	7%	6	23%
Andrus Peat	G	4	7%	4	15%
Alex Bachman	WR	1	2%	9	35%
Defense				Spec Tms
Player	Pos	Num	Pct	Num	Pct
Isaiah Pola-Mao	FS	59	100%	3	12%
Robert Spillane	LB	59	100%	0	0%
Tre’von Moehrig	FS	59	100%	0	0%
Jakorian Bennett	CB	56	95%	0	0%
Nate Hobbs	CB	55	93%	0	0%
Christian Wilkins	DT	53	90%	4	15%
Adam Butler	DT	50	85%	4	15%
Tyree Wilson	DE	42	71%	3	12%
K’Lavon Chaisson	LB	41	69%	5	19%
Jack Jones	CB	39	66%	0	0%
Luke Masterson	LB	34	58%	22	85%
Charles Snowden	DE	29	49%	0	0%
John Jenkins	DT	24	41%	5	19%
Amari Burney	LB	12	20%	19	73%
Darnay Holmes	CB	12	20%	7	27%
Tommy Eichenberg	LB	11	19%	19	73%
Janarius Robinson	DE	8	14%	3	12%
Nesta Jade Silvera	DT	6	10%	5	19%
Special Teams				Spec Tms
Player	Pos	Num	Pct	Num	Pct
Amari Gainer	LB	0	0%	22	85%
Christopher Smith	SS	0	0%	20	77%
Thomas Harper	FS	0	0%	18	69%
Ameer Abdullah	RB	0	0%	16	62%
Sam Webb	CB	0	0%	11	42%
AJ Cole III	P	0	0%	9	35%
Dylan Laube	RB	0	0%	9	35%
Daniel Carlson	K	0	0%	9	35%
Jacob Bobenmoyer	LS	0	0%	9	35%
Jonah Laulu	DT	0	0%	5	19%
Jordan Meredith	G	0	0%	4	15

Raiders change up run game approach vs Browns, eclipse entire season rushing total

Funny what can happen when you try something other than running into brick walls over and over.

Three games in and the Raiders were averaging 51 yards rushing per game. Their offense was incredibly predictable and going nowhere fast. Something seems to have finally clicked with the coaching staff that starting nearly every set of downs with two runs up the middle was not establishing anything but how terrible the Raiders were at doing it.

So, today, the Raiders tried something new – give the receivers the ball.

And by that, I mean literally hand it to them.

Five times in the game, the Raiders gave it to a receiver either on a sweep or a reverse. The result of those plays was 44 yards and both of the Raiders’ touchdowns.

The first time came late in the first quarter and it went to Brock Bowers who picked up 12 yards on the play. That led out a long touchdown drive. That drive ended with Tyreik McAllister going for ten yards on a sweep and two plays later, Tre Tucker on the reverse for the touchdown from three yards out.

“You call it in the huddle and in my head it’s a touchdown because no one’s running me down. It’s three yards I had to get,” said Tucker. “I bet my life I can get three yards down there, so that’s what I did.”

Plays like that have residual effects.

The next Raiders drive, Tucker caught a pass in the right flat and then turned it into nine yards. The next play, Alexander Mattison got the ball up the middle and took off for the longest run of the season, going for 24 yards. It was a pull block by newly minted starter Jackson Powers-Johnson that helped open up the hole Mattison used.

“Definitely a domino effect,” said Powers-Johnson of one good run leading to another. “You just gain confidence. Sometimes you just need…I mean you look at a pitcher who practices his curve ball. Doesn’t get it right, doesn’t get it right. And then he feels that perfect flick of the wrist and just curves right over. That’s how it is. You see that one pop where pads are popping and you feel that crowd and you’re like, ok let’s go.”

That 24-yarder wasn’t just the longest run of the season. It was TWICE that of their previous longest run of the season. And by halftime the Raiders had 95 yards on the ground, which already nearly doubled their previous yards per game average. It’s no accident it came on the heels of several successful plays on the outside.

“It keeps the defense on their toes and keeps them thinking,” Mattison said of getting the receivers involved in the run game. “They don’t know who’s getting the ball, they don’t know where the ball’s going. So for us to be able to keep them operating and thinking like that, it’s big.”

Come the third quarter, Mattison broke off another big run. This time for 16 yards. And the Raiders used that run to throw the curve ball and hand it to DJ Turner on a sweep. Turner got a nice block from Brock Bowers to get around the edge and another great block from Tre Tucker to finish it off with a touchdown.

Turner has no shortage of speed. But Turner knows even the quickest players need their teammates doing their jobs to turn good gains into paydirt.

“He told me before the game ‘once you get the ball I got you’, Turner said of Tucker. “So I just followed him and it happened.”

“It was awesome,’ Tucker said of the play. “It’s one of those things where I can’t really see what’s going on behind me. I’m just blocking and blocking and next thing I know I’m like I just hear the crowd go crazy. I’m like what happened and DJ’s in the end zone and I’m out of bounds blocking. Like they say that’s a touchdown block.”

With that touchdown run, the Raiders went up 20-10 and led the rest of the way. And by midway through the fourth quarter, they had already surpassed in this game alone, their entire rushing total over the first three games coming in.

Funny what can happen when you stop simply banging your head against the wall over and over.

5 Raiders who will attempt to fill shoes of Maxx Crosby and other missing starters vs Browns

Some players are simply not replaceable. Maxx Crosby and Davante Adams are two such players. But the Raiders are in the position right now where they have no choice but to try and replace their roles in the lineup because both stars are OUT for …

Here are the players who will be asked to step up in the absence of the missing Raiders starters.

Replacing: Davante Adams (hamstring)

When the Raiders want to make a play downfield, they usually look to either Davante Adams or Tre Tucker. The two are very different kinds of receivers, but in their own ways are capable of being a deep threat for this team. Tucker does it with pure speed. Adams does it was route running and savvy.

It doesn’t matter how it happens, it just has to happen. Or at least the threat of it must be there. Tucker has been the third receiver on this team all season, behind Adams and Jakobi Meyers. Now Tucker will step up and start on the outside, attempting to fill the void left by Adams’s absence.

Stepping up to fill the shoes of Tucker in the slot will be DJ Turner.

Replacing: Michael Mayer (personal)

Mayer has been a co-starter this season along with rookie Brock Bowers. He’s also been the primary blocking tight end. Harrison Bryant has been the third tight end on this team this season, though he’s only played 14 snaps on offense. The former Browns tight end was a priority free agent signing this offseason, and initially was expected to be the team’s number two tight end. That was until they had Brock Bowers fall into their lap in the draft and the team made other plans.

Replacing: Thayer Munford (knee/ankle)

Munford was lost on the second snap of last Sunday’s game and didn’t return. Coming in for him was DJ Glaze. The third round rookie had impressed in camp and was considered a viable option to step in at right tackle right away. And just two games into the season, that’s what he was asked to do. He played well in his debut last Sunday. He will be asked to do it again.

Replacing: Maxx Crosby (ankle)

Replacing might not be the right word here. No one is replacing Crosby on this team. He is the heart, soul, and motor of this Raiders defense. We saw that last week when his ankle had him not quite himself and missing quite a few snaps. As a result, Andy Dalton had a field day and the Raiders gave up 36 points to the Panthers.

Wilson’s 34 snaps (46%) was second among edge rushers as they mixed it up with Janarius Robinson, Charles Snowden, and Amari Gainer all getting a fair amount of snaps as well. The only edge rusher who was in the game on each of the 13 snaps Crosby missed was Wilson. Expect him to lead the edge rushers in snaps in this game with a healthy rotation to keep everyone fresh. I would also expect to see practice squad DE K’Lavon Chaisson activated and in that rotation.

Replacing: Divine Deablo (oblique)

Masterson started last Sunday’s game in place of Deablo as well. So, expect that to continue. The Raiders have a lot of linebackers on this team, but it’s really a matter of quantity more than quality. Most are relegated to special teams. The only ones who saw snaps last week other than the starters were Amari Gainer (10 snaps) and Tommy Eichenberg (five snaps).

Eichenberg is considered a middle linebacker, but with Robert Spillane playing every snap, the rookie was asked to play outside linebacker for his five snaps in the game. And Gainer spent all ten of his snaps lined up at edge rusher.

Ballers for Raiders Week 3 loss to Panthers

Singling out the performances in Raiders Week 3 loss to Panthers

There wasn’t much to sing about if you’re the Raiders in their loss to the Panthers. The 36-22 final score didn’t tell the story at all. The real score was 33-7 which sealed it early in the fourth quarter.

A lopsided score like that suggests a complete collapse on both sides of the ball. They couldn’t run the ball, they couldn’t stop the run. They couldn’t pass the ball, they couldn’t stop the pass.

Andy Dalton was picking them apart through the air and Chuba Hubbard (who?) ran all over them on the ground. Gardner Minshew completed one deep pass and the Raiders still have the worst rushing attack in the NFL dating back like 25 years at least.

Anyway, let’s see about them Ballers, eh?

Baller

WR Tre Tucker

That one deep completion went to Tucker. He got behind the defense and made the long catch 54 yards downfield. It set up the Raiders only touchdown that actually mattered. It tied the game at 7-7 in the first quarter.

When the game essentially was over, he had three catches for 64 yards. But he didn’t just pack it in, he added four more catches to finish with 98 yards and a touchdown.

That’s it. That’s the list.

Continue to the Busters…

WATCH: Raiders QB Gardner Minshew with 54-yard bomb to speedster Tre Tucker

Gardner Minshew lauched a gorgeous deep ball to Tre Tucker to help Raiders tie it up with the Panthers in the first quarter.

Things just got interesting in the Raiders home opener against the Panthers. Carolina had scored a touchdown on their opening drive, but the Raiders were unable to answer initially. The defense held, and the Raiders got the ball back at their own three-yard line.

After moving out to the 20-yard-line, Gardner Minshew dropped back and let ‘er rip. Tre Tucker went deep on a post route and Minshew thew a perfect ball right into his arms in stride for a 54-yard completion.

https://twitter.com/Raiders/status/1837953774612369437

Minshew and Tucker connected on a few of these in the preseason so fans were waiting for them to break one off in the regular season.

The Raiders would capitalize on the deep connection too. A few plays later, they punched it in with Alexander Mattison to tie the game at 7-7 to begin the second quarter.

Breaking down how Raiders deployed WR and TE through 2 weeks

We have a two-game sample to see just how the Raiders are deploying their receivers and tight ends so far.

With Week 2 officially in the books, we now have multiple data points to help us figure out what to expect from this new look Raiders offense under Luke Getsy.

It’s pretty clear at this point that the group of pass catchers are the strength of the unit, and that’s to be expected when you look at the resources the team has put into it.

The Raiders rank third in the NFL in cap space dedicated to wide receivers and have now spent top 35 picks on tight ends in back to back drafts. Acquiring all that talent is great, but the way that talent is used can be just as important.

The first and most important player to talk about is, of course, Davante Adams.

Sometimes when teams have a truly elite receiver like Adams, they’ll throw them on the outside every play and ask them to win against whatever coverage they’re faced with. But in today’s NFL, more and more teams have started moving their best players around the formation. Not only does this allow you to take advantage of favorable matchups, it also makes life easier for your quarterback by giving him larger windows to throw into.

So far this year, Adams has taken 27% of his snaps from the slot. That’s still a touch lower than his first year with the team but a big improvement from 16.9% last year.

Those alignment numbers are part of the reason Adams’s yardage total dropped by almost 400 yards from 2022 to 2023 despite seeing 3 more targets.

The uptick in slot snaps this year is already paying off. Adams had 9 catches for 110 yards in week 2. He only hit those totals twice all of last season.

Next we have the highly touted 1st round pick Brock Bowers.

Having a player like Bowers can do so many things for an offense, but tight ends are so often misused because they aren’t a great fit for their offense. This can lead to underwhelming production and prevent them from reaching their ceiling.

The early signs suggest that this will not be the case here. Bowers has been on the field for 62 pass plays this season and has run a route on 59 of them (95%).

Of the 37 tight ends who have played at least 25 passing snaps, only 2 have a higher route participation rate than Bowers. He’s certainly a capable blocker, but you don’t draft a tight end in the top 15 for their pass blocking.

Luke Getsy is also doing a good job moving the Georgia product around the formation. Bowers has taken 45 snaps from the slot, 30 at inline tight end, eight out wide, and one from the backfield. This is a great balance that allows them to use him in a variety of ways without turning him into a glorified decoy.

The only nitpick I have with Bowers’s usage is that he’s only run the fourth most routes on the team. I suspect this will increase as the season rolls on, but it’s worth keeping an eye on.

Now that we’ve covered the two thoroughbreds, let’s talk about some of the other receivers and tight ends.

As expected, Jakobi Meyers and Tre Tucker have been far and away WR2 and WR3. Both players took over 60% of their snaps from the outside in 2023, but Hunter Renfrow’s departure opened up space in the slot. They’ve opted to keep Tucker and his elite speed on the outside, moving Meyers to play a majority in the slot.

For Meyers, this makes sense considering it’s what he did for his entire career in New England. At the same time, it’s a bit surprising because Meyers performed well in 2023, and Tucker spent a whopping 96.5% of the time in the slot during his final season at Cincinnati. Speed is likely the main reason for this decision, and it’s hard to fault them for that.

The result of this, however, is Tucker has struggled to get involved early and spends most of his time clearing out space for other playmakers — an important, but often thankless job.

It would be nice to see more of Tucker getting downfield on full speed motion plays, similar to what the Dolphins do with their speedy receivers. They’ve done some of that stuff with Meyers, but Tucker’s speed could really be leveraged in those situations. Tucker’s average depth of target was 19.2 yards last, but he has yet to see a target more than 20 yards downfield in 2024.

Finally, there’s Michael Mayer. A highly drafted player who has sort of been cast aside with the arrival of Bowers.

Mayer has good hands, he’s solid in contested situations and is a capable route runner. He’s just not quite as dynamic as some of the top receiving tight ends around the league.

At the same time, he hasn’t fared particularly well as a blocker in his NFL career so far. Mayer was 72nd out of 91 qualified tight ends in PFF run blocking grade in 2023. He’s fallen more into that type of role in 2024, so hopefully we see improvement as he can focus more on that part of his game.

Overall, I like what Luke Getsy has done with his pass catchers so far in 2024. We’re seeing much more diversity with their alignment compared to 2023. The passing game may not look like it did against Baltimore every week, but expect it to continue looking better than last year.