We are still waiting on the debut of first-round pick Tyree Wilson as he continues to work his way back from a foot injury. His time is coming soon as the Raiders took him off the NFL list last Wednesday.
But we did see the NFL debut of another star rookie on Saturday and that was former Notre Dame TE Michael Mayer. The second-round pick played 21 snaps against the Rams, mostly being used as a blocker.
In a recent article by Pro Football Focus, they discussed Mayer’s first game action and how the Raiders used him on Saturday. Here is a quick snippet of their thoughts on the John Mackey Award winner:
On the first two drives, Mayer played eight snaps and (Austin) Hooper played six. Mayer played 100% of 21 personnel snaps while Hooper played 100% in 11. The two continued to play throughout the first half. Mayer would continue to play all of the snaps in 12 personnel, which led to 10 run blocks, one pass block and one pass route.
The Raiders will use Mayer more as a receiver as the year goes on, but it’s clear they just wanted to get his feet wet a little before making him the starting tight end. Expect Mayer to play upwards of 50 snaps a game by the time we get to the midpoint of the 2023 season.
