Raiders OC Mick Lombardi addresses issues with rookie that will be fixed

Justin Churchill — College Football & NFL Trending News Writer

Oct 4, 2023 4:29 PM EDT

The Las Vegas Raiders have been doing something wrong in the 2023-24 season. Well, that statement is pretty obvious, given how their season is going as a whole. They are a bad team once again, with no sign of getting better soon.

But I am talking about how little they are involving their rookie skill position players. For Mayer he is playing a bit but is mostly being used in jumbo packages and blocking as a tight end in the run game. Tre Tucker is getting very little action at all.

You understand they are in good position rooms, but they were drafted for a reason, and you'd like to see a little more of what they can do. On Tuesday, the Raiders offensive coordinator addressed the issue.

"Obviously, every week, he's [Mayer] going to have a big role in the running game, just by the nature of his position. But we have to get him involved more in the passing game, and we want to get him more involved in the passing game. That goes for every skill player, but since he's on the field so much, we definitely have to do that moving forward.

"And we're going to try to do that every week because I think he deserves an opportunity to catch the football. He was productive in camp and productive in the preseason for us. And it's our job to try and get him the football and see what he can do with the ball in his hands."

Mayer has played just 116 offensive snaps this season, 48% of all offensive snaps, and has been targeted twice in four games, yet he has found himself wide-open a few different times. For Tucker, he has played just 39 total offensive snaps and has seen just one target and one rush attempt.

You figured the Raiders would use Tucker's speed more, considering they don't have speed like that; however, they have barely used him at all. In some games, he has even been listed as an inactive player. Fans want to see these guys more, and based on what Mick Lombardi has said, we should see them more. We understand that the offenses aren't working under Josh McDaniels, so why not go ahead and try getting these guys involved?