The Las Vegas Raiders didn’t swing any big moves at wide receiver this offseason, which came as a surprise to many. A big reason for that was Tre Tucker.
The former third-round pick led the Raiders with 696 receiving yards last season, which was a career best. After the team traded away Jakobi Meyers, he was easily their best wide receiver.
Now, the Raiders may have had the weakest wide receiver room in the NFL last season, so that doesn’t necessarily mean that Tucker is a true No. 1. However, head coach Klint Kubiak has spoken very highly of Tucker since taking the job.
The young wide receiver is entering a contract year, but Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton believes that Tucker is “primed” to earn a solid contract this year.
“Tucker isn’t a prominent extension candidate, but that could change during the upcoming season. Despite constant turnover within the Raiders’ coaching staff, he’s topped his receiving numbers every year,” Moton wrote.
“Last season, Tucker served as the team’s lead target while Bowers battled a PCL injury. He recorded 57 receptions for a team-leading 696 yards and five touchdowns. Regardless of his short-term status in Las Vegas, the 25-year-old receiver could earn a significant pay raise if his numbers continue to trend up.”
Kubiak is Big Fan of Tucker
When a new coaching staff comes in, it’s very important for returning players to win them over. Luckily for Tucker, he was able to do that very quickly.
Kubiak has singled him out on a number of occasions as a player he’s impressed with.
“One guy that sticks out is watching Tre Tucker play football. He’s kind of everything that we’re about, the way that his play style, how good of a teammate that he is,” Kubiak said earlier in the offseason.
Considering how young the Raiders’ wide receiver corps is, there’s going to be pressure on Tucker to perform. Kubiak knows the team needs a big season from the wide receiver.
“He’s got to be a playmaker for us, and he has been. And now let’s go see what else we can get out of him,” Kubiak said.
Tucker Has Learned a Lot in Young Career
Tucker is only heading into his fourth year in the NFL, but has already had seven different offensive coordinators. It’s very difficult for young players to develop with constant changes at coach, but Tucker is trying to be positive about it.
He thinks having to learn from so many different people has helped him understand a variety of schemes.
“Obviously, you don’t want to have multiple different offensive coordinators [because] you can’t play in the same system, but you can’t look at the negatives,” Tucker said. “The positives, I was able to learn different schemes, different terminology [and] just seeing different things. And I think that’s helped me now because a lot of things we’re doing, I mean, the NFL is the NFL, everybody runs the same plays, they just call it different, so you know the coaching points, and you get to learn more.”
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