Film Room: Vertical passing makes its return to Oakland Raiders
By Chris Reed
With so many talented wide receivers joining the Oakland Raiders in 2019, it is time for the vertical passing game to return home.
There may not be anything more synonymous with the Oakland Raiders than Al Davis’ vertical passing game. That deep attack has been absent for some time however. Long gone are the days of speedsters like Cliff Branch and James Jett terrorizing a team’s secondary. Even the exploits of track stars like Jacoby Ford seem like they transpired ages ago.
That is going to change this season.
New General Manager Mike Mayock and Head Coach Jon Gruden set out to reshape the wide receiver position with a focus on adding raw speed. They have been more successful than they probably even thought possible. Landing free agent wide receiver Tyrell Williams would have been a great addition in its own right. To the swing a trade for Antonio Brown who is arguably the best receiver in the NFL gives the Raiders a dangerous deep threat combination.
Antonio Brown really needs no introduction. Even though he is only 5’10” and 180-pounds, he has been one of the top producing passing targets in the NFL for the past 6 seasons. He has not had less than 1,200 receiving yards in any of those years while scoring 67 touchdowns over that time. He has 11,207 yards on 837 catches and 74 receiving touchdowns on his career.
He also has another 4 punts and a kickoff that he has returned for touchdowns and has a total of 14,258 all-purpose yards. If Oakland cannot get production out of Antonio Brown, they did something very wrong.
Tyrell Williams is not nearly as accomplished but he is just getting started. At 6’4″ and 205-pounds Williams will be a target the Raiders can use in every situation. He has 2,530 yards on 155 receptions and has hit pay dirt 17 times in his four year career.
Those numbers seem paltry in comparison yet Williams finds himself in the perfect position to both learn from and benefit from Brown’s presence on and off of the football field. He will have a multitude of opportunities to make plays as the defense’s focus will be primarily on Brown.
Now that we have the back story, let’s jump into the “Just Blog Baby Film Room” and take a look at how exactly Gruden will deploy his new arsenal.