2019 season
The Las Vegas Raiders found a diamond in the rough when they signed Darren Waller from the Baltimore Ravens practice squad in 2018. In his first full season as a starter, Waller burst on to the scene as one of the best tight ends in the NFL.
As Derek Carr‘s only consistent receiving target, Waller put up an incredible 90 catches for 1145 yards and 3 touchdowns and had an impressive 570 yards after the catch. His yards after catch numbers were good enough for 8th in the NFL and second only to George Kittle among tight ends.
Waller was rewarded with a new contract keeping him in Las Vegas for the next 3 years at around $9 million per. Even with the new additions, Waller is still the number one target for Carr and will benefit from the added weapons around him.
Rookie Foster Moreau was developing a reputation as quite the red zone threat in his first year in the NFL. Moreau recorded just 21 receptions in 13 games before tearing his ACL but 5 of those catches were for touchdowns. All 5 of Moreau’s touchdowns came in the red zone with 4 of them coming from inside the 10 yard line. He was the perfect complement to Darren Waller and was a great safety valve for Carr when it counted most.
Moreau suffered his injury in Week 14 against the Tennessee Titans but all signs point to him being fully healthy and ready for the 2020 season. We can expect more of the same from Moreau but he may see his playing time reduced due to some of the new additions.
After Moreau’s injury, Derek Carrier stepped in to a larger role but did not do much damage on the stat sheet as expected. Lastly, Eric Tomlinson was on the roster for the last 3 games of the season but did not record any statistics.