Tight Ends May Be Big In Our Offense...

[Angry Pope]

Tight ends may be big in Raiders offense

8/22/2006, 4:51 a.m. CT
By JOSH DUBOW


OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Aaron Brooks dropped back to pass on his second play from scrimmage and found tight end Courtney Anderson for an easy 9-yard completion.

The strategy continued all game long, as Oakland Raiders tight ends had 10 catches against San Francisco — a big change from recent years.

Coach Art Shell has stressed all training camp that his offense is suited to those big guys in the middle of the field. Now it's beginning to show.


"I have always said since I first got here that our tight ends are going to be an integral part of what we do," Shell said. "It always has been in the history of the Raiders that tight ends have always been big for us. In our scheme, the tight end will be a factor for us."

From Raymond Chester to Dave Casper to Todd Christensen, tight ends have played a big part in the Raiders' success. But it was an aspect of the passing game that was often overlooked in Norv Turner's system the past two seasons.

Tight ends had 49 catches in 2004 and only 37 last season. Anderson caught two touchdown passes in last year's opener against New England and had five receptions for 100 yards in Week 3 against Philadelphia before disappearing for much of the rest of the season.

"If you watch the tape from last year, you'll see a number of times where not to say we forced the ball downfield, but there were times the ball could have been thrown underneath to a tight end," Randal Williams said. "Those 10- and 20-yard plays move the ball and move the chains. We're going to take advantage of that this year."

With Shell bringing back the traditional power running, deep strike passing offense, the tight ends figure to get plenty of chances again this season.

Brooks expects that with all the attention Randy Moss draws on the outside, his tight ends will have plenty of room to operate in the middle of the field.

"When you've got 18 on your side, someone else has to be open," Brooks said about Moss. "I thought the tight ends did a wonderful job catching the football. If teams continue to double team Randy Moss, we have to use our other guys and they have to step up. I thought they did a great job."

After the passing game struggled as a whole the first two preseason games, the offense began to click in Sunday night's 23-7 victory over the 49ers.

Four tight ends combined for 10 receptions for 158 yards. Williams led the way with three catches for 53 yards, O.J. Santiago caught three balls for 33 yards, rookie John Madsen had two catches for 52 yards and Anderson caught two balls for 20 yards.

The Raiders also had a touchdown pass to Anderson called back on a questionable pass interference penalty.

"I think this offense is geared to running the ball and getting the ball downfield to our receivers," Williams said. "The fact that we have receivers capable of making big plays means the defense has to worry about that. That creates opportunities for the tight ends. ... It's up to us to make the most of those opportunities."

 

[Angry Pope]

Raiders show passing interest in tight ends

David White

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

The Raiders' tight ends have hands, will catch.

Really. They never liked posing as pass-eligible linemen last year, what with all those blocking chores and only a few decoy routes thrown in the mix.

"You try to be a team player," starting tight end Courtney Anderson said. "If someone else gets the ball, I'm with that. But, gimme the ball, too. Let us contribute the same way."

Very well, says Raiders coach Art Shell.

Shell was around when "Ghost to the Post" was alive and well in the Raiders' goody bag (Dave Casper). That image vanished in recent seasons, so Shell decided his rehiring was as good a time as any to resurrect the tight end catch-and-run from the dead.

"I've always said if you know the history of the team you're playing for, if they check our history, our tight ends have always been involved in what we do here," Shell said after training-camp practice Tuesday in Napa.

He's not playing around. Four tight ends combined to make 10 catches for 158 yards in Sunday's 23-7 exhibition victory against the 49ers.

Only two tight ends caught passes last season. Anderson had 24 for 303 yards and Randal Williams had 13 for 164.

These days, everyone in the tight-end group is doing Todd Christensen impersonations.

"Everybody's involved," Anderson said. "It wasn't always like that in the past."

John Madsen is an undrafted free agent who finished his Utah career with a broken ankle last year. Converted from receiver to tight end by the Raiders, he has three catches for 58 yards in the exhibition season, tops among his peers.

O. J. Santiago is a free-agent pickup who hasn't played in the NFL, or anywhere else, since 2003. He had three catches for 33 yards against the Niners.

Williams led the team with 53 receiving yards Sunday. Anderson had two catches for 20 yards, and a 1-yard touchdown pass negated by a penalty.

"We could have had 900 yards," Madsen said. "It was awesome, definitely fun."

It beats fighting with a defensive end all the live-long day.

Tight ends have to block at some point in every scheme, and it's no different in Shell's run-oriented plans. That doesn't mean they can't have fun every once in awhile, and getting smacked by a 275-pound quarterback chaser does not qualify.

Running routes with as good a chance at seeing a pass as Randy Moss is more like it. So is overmatching a linebacker on a jump ball just north of the first-down marker.

"When you block, you feel like you're part of the game," Anderson said. "When you catch, you really feel part of the game. You get out there and make a couple catches ... it's good to get some passes thrown your way and feel good about playing in the game."

They're not running merely simple stuff. In one practice series Tuesday, Madsen went deep down a sideline, then over the middle on a crossing route. Williams went long, Anderson went short, even Derek Miller made a sideline grab.

This is what happens when defenses cast their secondary like a blanket on receivers Moss and Doug Gabriel. Ask the Niners, who still can't tell the starting Raiders tight end from the fourth-best thing on the depth chart.

"If you try to take away our receivers, like they try to do with Randy, then someone else is going to hurt you," Shell said. "We feel we have the guys who can do that."