After Watching the Raiders Practice, David Carr Shares the Overlooked Player He’s Most Excited to See in ’26

With so much turnover in the offseason, both in the locker room and among the coaching staff, the Raiders are a bit of a mystery going into the 2025 season.

Klint Kubiak was hired to change the losing culture in Las Vegas, but in his first year his most obvious impact should be seen on the offensive side of the ball.

In two weeks, we’ll have a better idea of what the Raiders’ offense is going to look like under Kubiak, and it will be interesting to see how the first-year head coach uses his playmakers.

The personnel in Las Vegas is different than what Kubiak had in Seattle, and former NFL quarterback David Carr said on Thursday that he has reason to be excited about what Kubiak plans to do with the tight ends.

“I honestly am most excited to see how they utilize Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer,” Carr said on the Home Grown with David & Derek Carr podcast.

“I think that the tight end situation is real interesting. It’s not going to test Klint [Kubiak], but I think it’s unique. Because he has had receivers like when he was [in New Orleans], he had Rasheed that he could plug in. Where was Chris [Olave] going to be? And then in Seattle it was JSN. I’m trying to remember because in Seattle he had a tight end that was the guy. What’s that going to look like?”

“I saw a practice. It was very exciting. If it’s a lot of that, that would be cool to see how they utilize that personnel group.”

Carr couldn’t talk about the offense he watched at practice, but it sounds like Kubiak has big plans for his 12 personnel package featuring two tight ends.

Bowers is arguably the most dynamic tight end in the NFL, but it’s easy to forget Mayer was considered by many to be the best tight end in the 2023 draft – ahead of Dalton Kincaid, Tucker Kraft and Sam LaPorta.

For three years, Mayer has been under-utilized by the Raiders, but every indication is that the former second-round pick will be on the field with Bowers a lot this year.

On a fantasy football note, if you can’t find a tight end in this year’s draft, you could do a lot worse than taking Mayer in the late rounds of your draft.

If they can stay healthy, it sounds like Kubiak has big plans for Bowers and Mayer this year.

x: @raidersbeat

What We’re Expecting From The Raiders in 2026

Kirk Cousins has been named the Raiders starting QB, and next up on the schedule is Week 1 against the Dolphins. In advance of the season, David and Derek break down everything you need to know about the 2026 Raiders – how Brock Bowers will be used like Jaxon Smith-Njigba, what Fernando Mendoza’s development will look like, and more.