The 2016 season was a wild one for the Oakland Raiders. They finally evolved from punchline to promising, and the future looks bright for the Silver and Black. However, now that the season is over, it’s time to reflect on the season that was. The Last Word on Pro Football Raiders department will be breaking down each position group over the next couple of weeks. Today, the topic of conversation is the tight ends.
Oakland Raiders End of Season Evaluation: Tight Ends
The Group As A Whole
It’s important to say that Bill Musgrave’s offensive schemes never seemed to heavily rely on receiving tight ends. Even during his time in Minnesota, his multiple tight end packages were primarily geared towards the run game and gadget plays. So, evaluating tight ends in this scheme isn’t just about catches, touchdowns and red zone mismatches. Run blocking and pass protection are more important skills in this offense. That’s why Mychal Rivera, the most natural pass catcher of all the Raider tight ends, saw limited action all year.
Lee Smith
Lee Smith has said in interviews that he enjoys the blocking aspect of being a tight end. No kidding. The guy is a beast, smart and physically powerful, excellent in both pass and run blocking. No other tight end on the roster gave the offense that blocking solidity. So thank Lee Smith for the 6 linemen trend that took off around the NFL this year. That’s what Musgrave had to do to scheme around his loss to injury, and that’s a pretty big vouch for his ability as a blocker.
Whilst Smith’s hands are softer than he is given credit for, the knock on Smith will always be his pass catching. He did make a couple of key catches before injury, but it’s just not the reason he’s in the team. He’s there for his blocking, and in that respect he excels. The Raiders did have to change the way they played when Smith went down, and that is a tribute to his importance. However if a starting tight end can be adequately replaced by a sixth offensive lineman, it’s hard to make claims that the unit or the player had a great year.
Clive Walford
Clive Walford must be the most frustrating tight end on the roster. At times, he offered us tantalizing glimpses into what could be. A nightmare mismatch for safeties or linebackers, a key third down target. The game against the Panthers is a case in point. In the clutch, he was the receiver that found the yards to win us the game. But he was simply too inconsistent to be relied on over a full season. The Raiders led the league in dropped passes and whilst Cooper and Crabtree both had their fair share, Walford’s should not be overlooked. He caught 33 receptions from 52 targets. Not all of those will be drops of course, but that’s still a poor return.
Whilst his blocking has improved since his rookie year, he was still too inconsistent. Again, the fact that most of Lee Smith’s playing time was taken by a sixth offensive lineman rather than Walford gives an insight into what the coaching staff thought. And they weren’t the only ones: Football Outsiders have him ranked at 27 in receiving tight ends. That’s actually lower than the next man we’ll talk about, and that’s not a great sign.
Mychal Rivera
The rumour last off-season was that Rivera was available for trade. It was surprising to see him still a Raider come September, but perhaps there is something to be said for his persistence.
He was never going to excel under Musgrave, who places such value on blocking tight ends. Rivera is really a pure pass-catcher. Despite this he had a couple of decent games, particularly against Tampa Bay and Buffalo, and seemed to force his way back into consideration as the season went on. As mentioned above he’s actually the highest ranked Raiders tight end on Football Outsiders, and if new offensive coordinator Todd Downing wants a pure pass catching tight end, Rivera might do well next year.
Overall
The truth is that whatever the scheme they were playing in, the tight ends weren’t good enough this year. Smith excelled in the blocking aspect of the role before his injury. Walford showed signs of improvement, but dropped too many passes to be effective as an all-round tight end. Rivera simply isn’t a good blocker, and that means he’s probably a second tight end wherever he plays.
Still I don’t expect tight end to be a position the Raiders prioritise in the draft or free agency. Smith will be back, and Walford offers glimpses of potential so sweet you can taste it. If this group continues to work hard, and if Todd Downing involves the tight ends more in his offense, then next year I can see potential for improvement. For now though, the grade is C-. More work to be done.
Note: Gabe Holmes, who spent the season on the Raiders practice squad and didn’t play in a game, was not included in this review.
