The Las Vegas Raiders have not received much production from their wide receivers during the 2025 NFL season. Through six games, Tre Tucker is the only player at the position who has caught a single touchdown pass on the year.
While Geno Smith has struggled tremendously under center, his pass-catching unit has been largely underwhelming. Jakobi Meyers has often felt invisible, while rookies Jack Bech and Dont'e Thornton Jr. have endured steep learning curves at the professional level.
The rookie duo has combined for only 154 receiving yards, hauling in just ten of their combined 24 targets. Thornton Jr. received the bulk of the playing time to begin the season, as he was on the field for 65.7% of the offensive snaps over the first four weeks. He failed to produce, however, as he caught just five passes for 94 yards.
Jack Bech does not capitalize on increased Raiders opportunity
His lack of production opened the door for Bech to step into a featured role after playing just 12.0% of the offensive snaps over the first four weeks. Their roles have practically flipped over the past two weeks as Thornton Jr. has played 26.4% of the offensive snaps, while Bech has been on the field for 63.6% of the offensive snaps.
That point was driven home in Week 6, as the former played a career-low two offensive snaps, while the latter played a career-high 46 offensive snaps. After playing just 30 offensive snaps over the first four games, he has been on the field for 82 snaps the past two weeks.
Bech had the chance to show that he deserves an increased role in the offense against the Tennessee Titans. He did very little to take advantage of that opportunity, however, as he produced next to nothing.
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In Week 5, he hauled in three of his five targets for 27 yards. Bech was targeted just once on Sunday, however, and he failed to record a single reception. To be fair, Smith couldn't see him running open, as Bech recorded an average of 3.17 yards of separation, which is above average.
While his playing time is unlikely to diminish due to the Raiders' lack of depth at the position, it is not encouraging to see a second-round pick struggle to produce so early in his career. Whether it be his own fault, Smith's or the two not getting on the same page, Bech needs to find a way to make more of an impact.
The Raiders have hardly received any production from their rookie class, as Ashton Jeanty has been the only player to consistently see the field and perform.
The Raiders have won just six games since the beginning of last season, so there is no reason that they should not be developing their young talent. Additionally, however, players like Bech need to take advantage of the opportunity when they are on the field and not just disappear.