Oakland Raiders: What rookie TE Foster Moreau brings to the offense

What will Foster Moreau, the fourth-round blocking tight end out of LSU, bring to the Oakland Raiders offense in his rookie season?

The blocking tight end out of LSU, Foster Moreau was drafted by general manager Mike Mayock and head coach Jon Gruden in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL draft. He plays a position of need for the Oakland Raiders following the unexpected release of one of the better blocking tight ends in the league in Lee Smith.

While Moreau is seen as a blocking tight end, that isn’t the only thing he was drafted for, as Mike Mayock explained following the draft.

"“What we think we found is a tight end who can put his hand in the dirt and block, number one. Number two, we think he’s a bit better athletically than most people think, and number three, we think he’s a great complement to Waller, who you just talked about.”"

Moreau had a nice showing at this year’s NFL Combine finishing with a SPARQ score of 131.0 making him the third-ranked tight end. SPARQ is a metric that uses combine or pro day numbers to determine a measure of athleticism and he was beaten out only by the top two overall tight ends in the draft in the Iowa duo of T.J. Hockenson and Noah Fant.

Despite playing much of his sophomore year and starting his junior and senior years, Moreau only amassed 52 receptions, 629 yards, and six touchdowns throughout his college career. According to Scott Bair of NBC Sports Bay Area, Dane Brugler, an NFL Draft analyst for The Athletic had the following to say about Moreau’s abilities.

"“Moreau was underutilized as a pass catcher at LSU, but he showed an ability to cleanly snap routes and adjust to the football when targeted, although he appeared limited after the catch.”"

Mayock seems to believe the same thing so let’s dive into his tape and see if that is the case.

Ole Miss Game Breakdown

This is Week 3 of the 2018 college football season following a four-reception, 33-yard game for Moreau versus Louisiana Tech. On the very first play of the film, Moreau makes a nice hit on a block.

At (0:15) however, he is knocked off balance and driven back on the outside run to his side. At (0:40) he shows off some of that athleticism Mayock talked about and broke a tackle after the catch gaining nine yards in the process.

Earlier I mentioned how Dan Brugler says Moreau “appeared limited” after the catch which I totally disagree with due to plays like this and others you will see throughout his tape review.

Moreau doesn’t just run block, he also pass blocks a lot and at (2:58) and (4:01) you see an example where Moreau looks good doing so. He misses chop blocks at (1:42) and (3:17) — this is something he consistently struggles with.

(3:28) shows his one problem when it comes to blocking and that is not chopping his legs which in turn means his blocks don’t have much power at times and he can’t always drive guys back as much as he should. On the other hand, plays like (2:41) show he’s capable of doing so as he does drive his man way back there.

Overview

In this game, Moreau’s upper body technique on blocks looked good as he extended his arms and used his length, but he did not use his lower body to produce power and chop his legs enough. Moreau also did not look very strong on some plays.

He only finished with one reception as he blocked about 99% of the time, including passing plays. Moreau’s pass blocking was better than his run blocking in this game.