Raiders trading up for Michael Mayer
Another huge decision the Raiders made as an organization this offseason was trading away their star tight end, Darren Waller. Las Vegas traded Waller to the New York Giants for the No. 100 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, a pick they used on Tre Tucker, who has yet to get it going during his rookie season.
Going into the NFL Draft, Notre Dame tight end Michael Mayer was seen by many outlets as the No. 1 player available at the position group. That is why it was such a big surprise that Mayer fell out of the first round, but through four games, we are starting to see what many scouts saw when preparing for the draft.
The Raiders traded up on Day 2 for Mayer, a move that excited the fan base at the time, including myself. After covering Mayer while writing for Notre Dame, I had seen plenty of his incredible play at the tight end position, something that has not transitioned so far to the pro game.
Maybe Mayer finds his way at the NFL level and starts dominating pro defenses the way he did at the collegiate level playing for the Fighting Irish. However, he has run over 50 routes for the Raiders this season according to Josh Dubow from the Associated Press and has only two targets and one catch for two yards through his first four games.