John Spytek and the front office stockpiled great decisions this offseason, and the Las Vegas Raiders are undeniably a more talented team than they were a year ago. But despite these upgrades, many are still questioning why the Silver and Black didn't do more to get a true No. 1 wide receiver.
After the draft, Spytek told the world that he liked the Raiders' wide receiver room. And yet names like Stefon Diggs, AJ Brown and Keon Coleman continue to come up as options that Las Vegas should pursue, even if they don't fit the team's timeline or the mold of who they're bringing into the building.
Thankfully, however, those players already in the building aren't hearing, or at least don't seem to care, about what folks outside the walls are saying. Tre Tucker recently spoke about the Raiders' wide receiver room and pass-catching group, and he is nothing but excited.
Tre Tucker is excited about Las Vegas Raiders' wide receiver room
Tucker spoke with the great Paul Gutierrez of Raiders.com on the latest episode of Upon Further Review. After touching on his impressions of Fernando Mendoza, Tucker spoke about the Las Vegas wide receiver room and gave fans plenty of reason for optimism.
"I'm very excited about the guys in our room that we have," Tucker said. "We just drafted a young rookie, Malik Benson, and we got a couple other young rookies. He's already doing really well. Jack [Bech] and Dont'e [Thornton Jr.], those are guys that I think are going to take the next step, and they've been doing well. (They've been) really good this whole offseason. And obviously, we got Dareke [Young], and we signed him. He was at Seattle, man. He's just a do-it-all guy, and I'm very excited about him. And I got to shout out to my boy Jalen [Nailor], cuz he's going to be a very big factor of our room. You kind of saw what he did in Minnesota, and I'm excited for the role he's going to have. I think, at the end of the day, if we all play together, I think we're going to be a really good receiver room. We just got to execute and get our job done, and we'll see what happens."
Clearly, Tucker either hasn't heard what all of the naysayers are saying, or he just doesn't care. He's not saying that they need another piece or that he'd like another great pass-catcher to complement him. Tucker isn't saying a veteran leader would be nice. He's taking on that responsibility himself.
It sounds like, based on what he's seen so far, the Raiders' young receivers are either stepping up this offseason or learning on the job fairly quickly.
With a great offensive schemer in Klint Kubiak and a great tight end in Brock Bowers, not to mention a good pass-catching running back in Ashton Jeanty, even just one wideout stepping up alongside Tucker would do wonders for this Las Vegas Offense.
And Tucker spoke about how it doesn't necessarily matter who those players are or what position they play. The Silver and Black need their best pass-catchers on the field, and with the versatility of the room and the presence of Bowers, their job becomes a lot easier.
"(It depends) on the scheme and all that, but at the end of the day, like I said, there's five guys, so you have to be able to play every position," Tucker explained. "So, the fortune of just having one guy at a position, that's just not going to happen. And, you know, it's a long season. So, you want your best three guys out there, your best two, best three, best four, whatever it may be, you want that. Obviously, we have a stud and a tight end, Brock. So, I think it makes our job easier."
Between the youngsters impressing Tucker thus far, Kubiak's scheme getting the best out of the receivers, and the Bowers of it all, the Raiders might not need the wide receiver addition that everyone outside the building seems to think they do.
Take Tucker's word for it, or wait to see it in action this season. That's up to you. But his confidence is pretty infectious.
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