If we learned anything about the Raiders offense over the last two weeks, it’s that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Josh Jacobs and Darren Waller are the Raiders most dangerous playmakers on offense… just as they were a year ago.
We also know that a Bill Belichick coached defense will almost always try to take away an opponents best player on offense. For Waller, that probably means he’ll face more double teams and other exotic coverages to make the Raiders beat them with someone else.
In fact, Patriots CB J.C. Jackson has already hinted that the Patriots have something special in the works for Waller.
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So which receiving target will step up for the Raiders when the Patriots key on Waller?
Let’s look at three good receiving options for Jon Gruden to deploy on Sunday against a Belichick defense designed to slow down the Raiders Pro Bowl tight end.
Nelson Agholor
It is only a matter of time before Agholor sees more time on the field. He looks as polished and athletic as anyone on the Raiders roster at wide receiver. What better time to make his mark than a week when Henry Ruggs III is out with a hamstring injury?
Foster Moreau
The Patriots want to deploy six defensive backs as often as possible. By putting Waller and Moreau on the field at the same time, the Patriots won’t have that option nearly as often. As the Patriots taught the NFL world with their own offense years ago, you can’t double team two tights ends.
Darren Waller
Because of the way Jon Gruden can move him around, there is only so much the Patriots can do to slow down Waller. Unlike wide receivers, Waller can line up anywhere on the field and he can be moved around pre-snap to give the Patriots all they can handle from a game-planning perspective. That’s right, even the great Bill Belichick might be short on answers when it comes to Waller.
Sometimes a player is just too gifted.
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And if Belichick isn’t able to stop Waller… exactly who will?
twitter: @raidersbeat
This article addresses the real concern for the Raiders, this week and beyond, Who will step up and become the third elite player, on offense, for this team? It would be great if that player was Foster Moreau. He’s young, big and has been shown to have reasonably good hands. Also, just as this article says, “It would be a nightmare matchup for any team.” While it was great, last week, that the Raiders used eleven different receivers, what I would have liked to have seen was these guys targeted multiple times. Maybe the Raiders will do so, this week. In fact, the reason that the New England Patriots are targeting Darren Waller is because he was the target of Derek Carr more frequently than any other Raiders receiver. This needs to change, this week, and Bill Belichick is going to literally force the Raiders to either implement that change or lose this game. The Raiders have apparently fixed the most important unit, heart and soul, of any team, it’s offensive line, and has at least three legitimate weapons, on offense, in Derek Carr, Darren Waller and Josh Jacob’s however, it is time to find “that next person” that will facilitate this team’s future success.