How do the Raiders’ pass catchers stack up against the rest of the league?

Much has been made about the Raiders quarterback situation this offseason, but having great weapons surrounding a quarterback can elevate their play. I think of a player like Brock Purdy and know this to be true, but what he also has is an elite playcaller, and the jury is still out on Luke Getsy.

However, the Raiders have a borderline elite set of offensive weapons, and better yet, it is a diverse group that is strong in the receiving game. PFF disagrees with me in their rankings.

Raiders ranked 17th

In a recent column, Trevor Sikkema of Pro Football Focus ranked the Raiders' receiving corps at 17th in the NFL.

"The question with the Raiders and their place on this list is how much can carry this group," Sikkema wrote. "Because beyond him, it is rough. Even Adams struggled to produce at his usual level in 2023, earning an 81.0 receiving grade. The Raiders have drafted tight ends and over the past two years, but their potential impact in 2024 is an unknown.  was solid for Las Vegas in 2023, but he will have to be even better in 2024 to open things up for Adams."

Let’s start with Davante Adams. Obviously, he did not put up the numbers that he had in the previous few seasons, but he also had the least stable quarterback situation of his career last year. Even considering this, Adams collected 1,144 yards on 103 catches and added 8 touchdowns. Forget his 81.0 receiving grade from PFF, Davante was still among the best in the league in 2023 during a “down year."

It is true that Michael Mayer and Brock Bowers are both relative question marks going into this season, but both have extremely high potential. Mayer caught 27 balls for 304 yards and two touchdowns in 2023 despite missing three games and only getting two targets in the first four weeks. Nobody should be panicking about his development because rookie tight ends usually don’t perform at the level that Sam LaPorta did last year.

Travis Kelce only played in one game during his rookie season, and Darren Waller had only two catches during his first campaign. Even guys like Rob Gronkowski and Mark Andrews only managed 550 receiving yards in their rookie years, and they didn’t miss any games and were far more featured in their offenses.

Bowers is as surefire of a prospect as I have seen. He does so many things on the football field that it is a bit unfair to even call him just a “tight end.” He will likely be featured in this offense second to only Adams, and I would bet the house that he will be up to the task. He and Mayer could be a dynamic tight end duo for years to come and they’re not even the only two weapons on the team. 

As we mentioned, Adams is still a premier receiver in the league, but the squad also has Jakobi Meyers. Meyers caught 71 balls for 807 yards and eight touchdowns, but he also recorded two rushing touchdowns and a passing touchdown. He came up with multiple clutch plays throughout the year and in multiple games, he was our top receiving option. I say all that to say that calling Meyers’ season last year “solid” is insulting. 

Tre Tucker was not mentioned either, and he is an emerging player. He showed tons of promise at the end of last season and if he could just clean up some of the rookie mistakes he made last year, he will make tremendous strides this season. Without Hunter Renfrow taking snaps in the slot, he projects to be the third wide receiver alongside Adams and Meyers. The only caveat is that Bowers could eat up some of those snaps in the slot.

No running backs were mentioned either, yet in his limited playing time last year, Zamir White garnered 15 catches for 98 yards, and Alexander Mattison collected 192 yards on 30 catches, adding three touchdowns through the air as well.

Ameer Abdullah also added 131 yards in the air on 19 catches, and Dylan Laube was a major receiving threat in college who could factor into the offense in this way. None of these players lit the world on fire catching balls out of the backfield last year but they are worthy of a mention as they have multiple players who are capable.