The Las Vegas Raiders had one of the worst offenses in the NFL last season thanks to poor play-calling, subpar quarterback play and a lack of high-end talent. This offseason, general manager John Spytek made sure to remedy this with veteran additions and highly-touted prospects in the draft.
While these new pieces are exciting for Raider Nation and new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, several players from last year will be key contributors as well. Brock Bowers and Jakobi Meyers are the obvious two, but third-year leaps are expected from both Tre Tucker and Michael Mayer as well.
These two players came into the league at the worst time, as Las Vegas has been in quarterback purgatory in each of their first two NFL seasons. However, both are incredibly talented and have impressed thus far at training camp, which means a breakout year could be coming.
Geno Smith compared Tre Tucker to a former All-Pro wide receiver
Geno Smith, arguably the team's biggest offseason acquisition, has been developing a rapport with Tucker throughout the offseason. When speaking to the media on Tuesday, he even had a pretty lofty NFL player comparison for Tucker ahead of the season.
"You know, Tre is a guy who works hard every single day. He does all the right things, on and off the field, like a true professional; a true leader," Smith said. "I think he's a spitting image of Santana Moss, and I think he can be a really, really good player. I look forward to all the things we can accomplish together, but, you know, right now, he's in a good spot and we just got to keep working."
Moss played 14 NFL seasons with the New York Jets and Washington Redskins, earning a Pro Bowl nod and a Second-Team All-Pro honor. He and Smith are both similar in stature, as Moss was 5-foot-10 and 193 pounds, while Tucker stands at 5-foot-9 and weighs in at 185.
However, they also had similar starts to their careers, as Moss was slow out of the gates just like Tucker. Moss caught just 32 passes for 473 yards and four touchdowns in 20 games, but Tucker has actually eclipsed these numbers with 66 catches for 870 yards and five touchdowns, albeit in 33 games.
Perhaps most promising is the fact that Moss exploded onto the scene in his third year with 74 catches for 1,105 yards and 10 touchdowns. If Tucker could even be in the ballpark of this production level, it would do wonders for the Raiders' offense.
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Smith was not just blowing smoke or hyping up his new receiver, however. He also told reporters that he had his eyes on Tucker for several years while still playing with the Seattle Seahawks, and now he is excited to work with him in Las Vegas.
"I would always see, you know, this number 11 making plays on the Raiders when I was on the Seahawks," Smith admitted. "I'm like, you know, that guy's pretty quick. He's pretty fast. I thought he was really good just from afar. But as I've gotten to work with him, you know, really, really special player. I think he's going to be a big contributor to this offense."
Tucker does not need to have a Santana Moss-like breakout in order for his third NFL season to be considered a success. All he needs to show is that he can continue improving with a better overall offensive situation.
Moss tallied 732 receptions for 10,283 yards and 66 touchdowns throughout his NFL career. Tucker obviously has a long way to go if he wants to chase down Moss on the all-time receivers list, but he can start by putting together a strong campaign in 2025, which Smith and Raider Nation both know he is fully capable of.