The Las Vegas Raiders have completely remade their tight end room this offseason. The franchise traded away former Pro Bowler Darren Waller and drafted Notre Dame’s Michael Mayer in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Prior to the draft the team also signed a pair of proven veterans in Austin Hooper and O.J. Howard.
Most teams tend to carry three tight ends on their roster, and it would be easy to assume that Mayer, Hooper and Howard would be that trio for the Raiders. But often times that third tight end contributes on special teams and can excel more in blocking as well.
With Hooper being the more productive player than Howard over the course of their careers, he would seem to have the upper hand for the second spot. And according to Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report, that could lead to Howard fighting for a spot on the Raiders:
To secure a roster spot, Howard will have to prove he’s one of the three best tight end options, ahead of players like the returning Jesper Horsted and undrafted rookie John Samuel Shenker, and perhaps show that he can contribute on special teams.
It’s perhaps an unfamiliar position for the 2017 first-round pick, who has 56 career starts on his resume. After catching only 10 passes for 145 yards with the Houston Texans last season, however, Howard could be fighting just to stick in Las Vegas in the coming weeks.
Howard likely has the upper hand over Horsted and is the more accomplished player, but Horsted was with the Raiders last year so he is already familiar with the offense. Additionally, Howard has always been known more as a receiving tight end, but the Raiders have that covered with Mayer and Hooper so if his blocking isn’t up to par, or he can’t contribute on special teams where Horsted or Shenker can, the Raiders could lean that way.
It is also worth noting that if the Raiders felt they needed to cut either Howard or Hooper, they would save more money and incur less of a dead money cap hit by parting with Howard.
Once training camp gets going all of these questions will be answered, and it is very possible that Howard will show everything he is worth and make sure the Raiders don’t even think about letting him go. But the tight end position will be one to watch once things get going.
