Oakland Raiders: Stacking up tight ends against the AFC West

Oakland Raiders

Key Contributors: Jared Cook, Lee Smith, Derek Carrier

He’s not anywhere near as explosive as Kelce, but the Raiders have a pretty good tight end in Jared Cook.

At six-foot-five, 254 pounds, he’s got excellent size, he runs a 4.5, and he’s incredibly long and athletic. He knows how to use his size, speed, and length to his best advantage, and can make some tremendous plays.

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Last season, Cook’s 54 receptions were second only to Michael Crabtree, but his 688 receiving yards led the team. Over the course of last offseason, Carr built a solid rapport and chemistry with Cook, and despite having a bit of an issue with drops, the two formed a pretty potent connection.

Cook should be primed for an even bigger season in 2018, with an innovative offensive mind like Gruden in charge. There’s no doubt that Cook can become a bit of an X-Factor in Gruden’s schemes, and one can only hope, given his size, he becomes more of a viable red zone threat than he was in Todd Downing’s system – a system that saw him get but a small handful of opportunities in the red zone.

Given Gruden’s avowed desire to run the football and then run it some more, he brought back Lee Smith, who was at one time, one of the premier blocking tight ends in the game. He seemed to slow a bit last year and maybe wasn’t as effective as in the past, but that could also be a product of Downing’s system – everybody suffered in Downing’s system.

Gruden also brought in six-foot-four, 244 pound Derek Carrier to help with the blocking duties.

Though Smith and Carrier’s primary role would be blocking, both have the ability to sneak out and catch some passes as well. It doesn’t happen all that often, but it gives Gruden – and more importantly, Carr – another set of potential weapons to utilize.