The Las Vegas Raiders will have one of the better tight end rooms in football in 2020 with Darren Waller, Jason Witten and Foster Moreau, among others.
Waller is one of the bright young stars on the Raiders, coming off a career season in which he had 90 receptions for 1,145 yards and three touchdowns, leading to a contract extension to remain with the team long-term.
While Waller is the Raiders’ unquestioned starter at tight end, he will have a pair of quality backups in Moreau and Witten, who are on opposite ends of their respective careers.
Bringing in the 38-year-old Witten was a questionable move when the Raiders announced it, but they have since made it clear that the signing was more for leadership purposes than his play on the field. Witten did have 63 receptions for 529 yards and four touchdowns with the Dallas Cowboys last year though so does provide some production on the field as well.
When asked about the Witten signing, Waller expressed excitement to learn from one of the best tight ends of all time, via Vic Tafur of The Athletic:
“I thought it was awesome,” he said. “He is a great example of longevity and doing it the right way. His technique and his mental approach to the game kept him at the top and is going to put him in the Hall of Fame, so to have him in your room and be able to learn from him is priceless.”
Waller added that Moreau used to mention watching film of Witten, and that prompted him to do the same:
“There are things that caught me off guard watching him,” Waller said. “He looks fast because he is great getting off the ball right at the snap, like no one I have ever seen — he will be ahead of wide receivers. So I am watching and thinking, ‘I didn’t know Jason Witten was that fast,’ but it’s that get-off and there are a lot of small details to his game that are just incredible.”
Raiders head coach Jon Gruden has also mentioned potentially utilizing formations with two and three tight ends, so the Raiders should be able to get all three of them involved at times in the 2020 season.
With the additions of Witten, Henry Ruggs III, Lynn Bowden, Bryan Edwards and others, plus the continued emergence of Waller, Moreau, Josh Jacobs and Hunter Renfrow, the Raiders offense should be much-improved in 2020.
