What hasn't stood in Michael Mayer's way since joining the Las Vegas Raiders via the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft?
Between poor coaching, an abysmal offensive environment, injuries, a star ahead of him at his spot in Brock Bowers and needing to step away at one point to take care of his mental health, Mayer hasn't enjoyed the easiest path thus far in the NFL. But things are about to change for him, big time.
After adding a respected, offensive-minded head coach in Klint Kubiak, reinforcing the offensive line, and adding two capable quarterbacks, Mayer is in the best situation of his career. And the team's failure to address the wide receiver room should leave plenty of targets for Mayer to eat up.
Kubiak is already working his magic with the tight end room in Las Vegas, and while Bowers figures to be the No. 1 option in the passing game, Mayer is finally proving that he should also be a central part of this offense during training camp. Bowers' dominance has overshadowed this development.
Michael Mayer's training camp outings have been overshadowed by Brock Bowers' dominance
Bowers, in a lot of ways, has been the talk of training camp. While newer, more exciting storylines like Day 3 rookies Zeke Masses and Malik Benson ascending quickly have been huge narratives, media members just can't stop raving about Bowers every day. And it's hard not to.
The sky is truly the limit for the third-year pro, and Bowers both raises the floor and ceiling of Kubiak's offense. He'll be the Raiders' version of Jaxon Smith-Njigba. But lost in those headlines has been Michael Mayer finally delivering on what fans and coaches have expected of him for years.
And things are finally stable enough in Las Vegas that he can live up to his lofty expectations as the No. 35 overall pick just a few years ago. By all accounts, Mayer has done exactly that through 10 training camp practices while receiving a majority of the targets with Bowers and Ashton Jeanty.
Veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins seems to be establishing a rapport with Mayer, as he has always loved his tight ends. As the summer sessions transitioned into padded practices, Mayer continued to shine, according to reports, even though he busted his nose and had to miss a practice.
His return to the field was palpable for Cousins and the Raiders' first-team offense, as he instantly checked back in and made big plays during the team period in last Friday's practice. Mayer found himself wide open for a touchdown at one point as he and the offense cooked in 12 personnel.
Our Marcus Johnson noted after watching practice that "Mayer will be a big part of this offense." And if you don't believe him, then just check out this video that Las Vegas' social media team posted of Mayer making a diving grab from Cousins.
Mayer even got it going with Fernando Mendoza during Saturday's practice as the rookie filled in for a suspended Cousins, scoring a touchdown on what The Athletic's Sam Warren described as a "scramble drill TD." Through 10 practices, there hasn't been one negative report about Mayer.
It has been easy to miss the endlessly positive updates about Mayer as he continues to fly under the radar alongside Bowers. But it seems like the fourth-year pro is starting to put it all together for the Silver and Black.
Raiders coaches and teammates are raving about Michael Mayer
Early in training camp, Kubiak was asked about how much value Mayer can add to this offense. In short: a lot.
“I go back to watching Michael [Mayer] at Notre Dame, and he's always open, catches everything," Kubiak told reporters. "He’s extremely unselfish in the run game, so he's had a really positive start, to be expected.”
His running mate, Bowers, is also a huge fan of his and believes that he and Mayer are a dynamic one-two punch.
"I think those heavy 12, 21 personnels there's so much versatility, especially with Mike [Mayer] out there," Bowers said to the media. "He can do so many things, like running routes. He can run routes really good. He runs with the ball really good. He blocks extremely well. So, I'm excited to see how we incorporate him and what he does out there."
Mayer, of course, echoed that sentiment.
"Two big threats," Mayer said. "We could both block really well. I think it's just going to be an interesting season in terms of that. I think we've just got to keep working hard, keep our head down. Klint's got a plan. Whatever Klint's plan is for us, we're going to trust it and follow it, and we're going to do it to the best of our ability."
Tight ends coach Luke Steckel, of course, recognizes how special this duo is as well.
"Two great players," Steckel said. "They're both versatile. I don't think Mike gets enough credit as a receiver, and I don't think Brock gets enough credit as a blocker. So, we can really move them around in a lot of different ways and attack defenses in different ways."
Later in camp, Kubiak made it clear that Mayer's emergence hasn't just been with his play, but with his leadership.
“I see a leader emerging on offense. I’ll put it that way, simple as that," Kubiak said.
And in ever-humble fashion, when Mayer was asked about how Kubiak's incredible, tight-end-focused offense is going to help him, he wouldn't get too ahead of himself, but still displayed great confidence.
"I think it's on me, though. I need to be ready. I need to know the offense like the back of my hand, and I need to keep my head down, and I need to work. I know there's going to be mistakes. I can't let mistakes ruin the day. I can't let them ruin the rep, I can't let them ruin the period. I've got to move on; mistakes happen. So I'm very, very excited for this season. I just need to keep working hard, keep my head down, and good things are going to happen. Really good things are going to happen."
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