At one point last season, Jack Bech was the one Las Vegas Raiders rookie that head coach Pete Carroll called for to play more. That proved to be very fleeting, though, with 104 of his 343 offensive snaps for the season coming over the three games after that declaration from Carroll.
177 more of Bech's offensive snaps came over the final five games of the season, leaving 62 snaps over the other eight games he played. A consistent role, regardless of who was at fault or could easily be blamed, never came to fruition for the first of the three wide receivers the Raiders drafted in 2025.
After last year's dysfunction, the arrival of Klint Kubiak and the premise of a functional offense will be good for all involved. If a Day 2 draft pick is used on a wide receiver, Bech's role would not seem to be as threatened as fellow second-year man Dont'e Thornton Jr.'s would be.
Jack Bech may be able to deliver on lofty comp in Klint Kubiak's offense
CBS Sports fantasy football analyst Jacob Gibbs, in highlighting an incoming rookie wide receiver the Raiders could target to pair or reunite with Fernando Mendoza, perhaps inadvertantly revealed a notable statistic about Bech from when he was an incoming draft prospect a year ago.
"Highest WR career avoided tackle rate on receptions, past three draft classes:
31.3%-Omar Cooper Jr.
30.7%- Luther Burden
29.1%- Malik Washington
28.6%-Jack Bech
27.3%- Tai Felton
26.5%- Malik Nabers"
Among the last three draft classes of wide receivers, which includes hundreds of college careers, Bech has the fourth-highest avoided tackle rate on receptions. That is nothing to turn your nose up at, and it is a clear indicator that Bech can do more than he showed, or was allowed to show, last year.
Right after the Raiders drafted Bech, within a theoretical angle of him being a fantasy football asset immediately and until further notice, Gary Davenport of Bleacher Report offered a very lofty comparison for Bech.
"There's some Cooper Kupp in Bech's game. He wins more with route-running and physicality than blazing speed."
Bech is also a capable blocker, which will keep him on the field regularly if a coaching staff knows how to use him. Interestingly enough, Kubiak had the current version of Kupp when he was the Seattle Seahawks' offensive coordinator last season.
Kupp is, of course, past his prime at this point in his career. But last season, he rebounded to average 12.6 yards per catch, and his yards after catch per reception (6.2) was the second-best of his nine-year career.
While the target volume Kupp had during his prime with the Los Angeles Rams is never coming back, Kubiak was able to revive some portions of the former Super Bowl MVP's game during their year together.
If Kubiak can revive the shell of Kupp to the extent he did, what could he do with a largely untapped young player like Bech? Expectations have to be kept realistic until fans see it on the field, but the path for Bech to have a second-year breakthrough as a key cog in Kubiak's offense is definitely there.