The Oakland Raiders needed a big game from Darren Waller in Week 1, and he certainly responded in a big way on Monday night.
Despite the offseason drama, the Oakland Raiders pulled through, and played a near-flawless game against the Denver Broncos Monday Night. They made a statement which said they were not the same team from last year.
The most notable difference was the offensive line dominating against one of the better pass-rushing duos in the NFL. Kolton Miller and Trent Brown were the stars of the show not allowing a single finger in Derek Carr during the game. Anytime you can not only win a game against your division rival but do so by dominating in the trenches with a clean quarterback jersey makes the win that much more special.
Even though the offensive line stole the show, another person I saw was second in line. Darren Waller ended the night with seven catches for 70 yards on eight targets. His ten yards per reception were second on the list with more than 1 catch on the team only behind Tyrell Williams.
His 25-yard catch came on a 1st and 15 after a holding call on the outside. He went up against the corner in soft cover-2 with an easy catch from Carr. Carr was able to put the ball exactly where it needed to be for Waller to make the catch.
What’s also important to note is his run blocking ability. Early in the game on 2nd and 1, he made a block on Bradley Chubb to lock out the outside defender for Jacobs to get the first down. On Jacob’s touchdown run, he again locked out Chubb and got underneath him for leverage and pushed him back.
Waller seems to be the real deal and is a dangerous weapon in the Jon Gruden arsenal. Gruden loves smash-mouth football with play-action passes to mix it up. Waller can not only block but he can run routes from the scrimmage marker and out wide to allow J.J. Nelson and Hunter Renfrow to be shifty in the slot while Williams commands the No.1 attention on the field. Waller will always win the battle 1-on-1 against a corner.
Waller has a bright future with the Oakland Raiders team and on the season.