When things aren't working well, it's time to consider where some changes can be made. For the Las Vegas Raiders' offense, that means some adjustments in the deployment of certain personnel.
Through four games, rookie wide receiver Jack Bech has played just 30 offensive snaps, and in Week 4 against the Chicago Bears, he played just five.
Taking into account how much fellow rookie wideout Dont'e Thornton has played (165 offensive snaps; a 66% snap share), even with acknowledgement of them being different types of players, there should be a better balance.
Jack Bech is easily in line for a bigger role moving forward
Head coach Pete Carroll was asked about Bech's lack of playing time the day after the Bears game, and his answer was concise.
"We just need to get him out there more," Carroll said. "He’s ready for it."
On Friday's edition of the Vegas Nation "First and 10" podcast, Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal brought up Bech as well.
“A guy that I would keep an eye on, real quick, is Jack Bech. I think Pete Carroll made it pretty clear that he wants Jack Bech more in the rotation,” Bonsignore said.
He went on to talk about how significant it was that Carroll said this about Bech.
“It sounds like Pete wants Jack Bech out there, and when the head coach is saying make sure that happens, I would think that maybe we’re going to see a little bit of action,” Bonsignore continued. “The rotation is basically overseen by the positional coach. Pete made it pretty clear that he wants that to change. We’ll see what that means for Jack Bech’s numbers this week. ... I’ve got my eye on that, because usually when the head coach says stuff like that, you make it a point to make it work.”
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Saturday brought some rough news for the Raiders' tight end depth chart heading into Sunday's game against the Indianapolis Colts.
Michael Mayer being ruled out as he continues to deal with a concussion wasn't too surprising. But Ian Rapoport of NFL Network also reported that Brock Bowers is trending toward not playing as he continues to deal with the knee injury he suffered back in Week 1.
Bech, at 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds, is obviously built like a wide receiver. But during his freshman college season at LSU, he lined up for 125 snaps as an in-line tight end, and over his three seasons at TCU, he still dabbled a little bit at the position. Bowers is hardly the quintessential in-line tight end, so Bech could take on a similar, slot-heavy role against the Colts.
Carroll publicly said he wants Bech to play more, and he has surely relayed that message behind the scenes. It was already lined up to happen on Sunday, regardless of injury situations, particularly Bowers', but Bech's path to a notable role is as clear as it can ever be.