Michael Mayer was expected to be a major part of the Las Vegas Raiders' offense when he was selected 35th overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. After a fairly slow start to his career, his role was drastically altered when the franchise drafted Brock Bowers 13th overall just one year later.
The latter immediately stepped into the lead tight end role and earned first-team All-Pro honors as a rookie. While Mayer has missed 13 games over his first three seasons, his percentage of offensive snaps played, when healthy, has decreased in each year of his young career.
Mayer could be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Raiders' hiring of Klint Kubiak as head coach. Renowned tight end analyst Max Toscano believes, however, that Mayer should have a key role in the new offensive system as a run blocker.
Las Vegas Raiders TE Michael Mayer could see an increased role in 2026
After playing 71% of Las Vegas' offensive snaps as a rookie, that number dropped to 63% and 60% over his next two seasons. While many believe that the tight end has been failed by his previous coaching staffs, the consensus is that the same won't continue under Kubiak.
Toscano appeared on Jesse Merrick's Silver & Black Sports Network Podcast, where he shared why he thinks that Mayer will be pivotal to Kubiak's outside zone running scheme.
"He's certainly necessary to pair with Bowers and is so important, especially to Kubiak's run game, setting that perimeter of wide zone. Because running wide zone to the tight end side is a huge advantage, and it's really necessary to be able to do, because you get that extra gap and it forces the defense into a little bit of conflict on the edge," Toscano explained. "Do they set a Wide 9 and keep that D-end out there and open up the C gap inside the tight end? Or do they try to close that and then risk setting a soft edge and allow the tight end to pin that perimeter and get outside, which you really don't want defensively in wide zone. So, it's really important that he's able to actually set the front of that play. And Bowers can't do that because they would just two-gap him and kill the play every time you run to him. So, he's really necessary for allowing for that and allowing that to work, and then unlocking all the things that a successful running game does for you. So, he's critical."
Of course, the expectation has been that Mayer would see his role expand in Kubiak's system due to the head coach's usage of 12 personnel, meaning two tight ends on the field at once. Bowers also figures to earn plenty of reps outside, which would further increase the need for the second tight end.
Mayer's blocking ability will make him even more pivotal to Kubiak's wide zone system, however, which places a major emphasis on skill players' run blocking. His role will help open up the running game, maximizing Ashton Jeanty's potential, along with the passing game.
Furthermore, the tight end has shown that he can contribute to the passing game, which should further increase his importance to the offense. Mayer has caught 68.0% of his targets in his career, and set new career-highs with 35 receptions for 328 yards last season.
While Mayer is entering a contract year, it is clear that he will be important to the offense in 2026. If he can thrive in his expanded role, it wouldn't be a surprise to see him receive an extension. For now, he has to be thrilled that he could be in line to earn the most playing time since his rookie season.
Add us as a preferred source on Google