HENDERSON, Nev. — Soon after he was drafted by the Las Vegas Raiders last year, receiver Tre Tucker began to pepper veteran Davante Adams with questions. He wanted to know everything that helped him become an All-Pro, from his deceptive releases off the line of scrimmage to his offseason routine. Over time, the constant queries developed into a bond where Tucker and Adams came to call each other brothers.
“We’re like-minded people,” Tucker said Wednesday. “That’s why me and him really hit it off. We got super close.”
Tucker, 23, is now one of the players tasked with replacing Adams after the Raiders traded the star receiver to the New York Jets on Tuesday in return for a conditional third-round pick. Jakobi Meyers is the new No. 1 receiver, a role he showed he could handle with the New England Patriots from 2020 to 2022, but he was held out of Sunday’s game due to an ankle injury that also caused him to miss practice Wednesday and Thursday this week. Even when Meyers is healthy, his assuming that role means the receiving corps needs a new No. 2 receiver. That’s where Tucker comes into play, and he believes his mentorship from Adams will come in handy.
“I always tell my coaches: ‘It’s not what you do, it’s the people you get to do it with,’ and he was one of those guys,” Tucker said. “He’s taught me a lot. That’s one of the things that I told him after I talked to him — I said, ‘I appreciate you.’ I feel like I’m ready to take that next step.”
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Tight end Brock Bowers will likely continue to lead the Raiders in targets with Adams gone. Through six games, the rookie has 46 targets and 37 catches for 384 yards, all of which lead the team. He looks capable of being a No. 1 option, but the Raiders need others to step up as they try to find offensive success with quarterback Aidan O’Connell in the wake of Adams’ departure.
“You never can replace an All-Pro receiver like Davante, but, at the end of the day, we’re not trying to,” coach Antonio Pierce said Wednesday. “We’re trying to be the best versions of ourselves.”
Meyers has already shown he’s capable, but it’s time for Tucker to do the same. In Week 3 against the Carolina Panthers, he totaled seven catches for 96 yards and a touchdown. In the Raiders’ win over the Cleveland Browns the following week — the first game Adams missed due to injury — Tucker caught five passes for 41 yards and took an end around for a 3-yard touchdown. But he’s been quiet since then. In the last two games combined, he has just two receptions for 18 yards.
12 ➡️ 11#CARvsLV | 📺 @paramountplus pic.twitter.com/e56INpaw8J
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) September 22, 2024
In the offseason, the Raiders believed Tucker was primed to make a Year 2 leap. He was coming off a decent rookie season with 19 catches for 331 yards and two touchdowns, but he and the coaching staff thought he could do much more.
“You have to prove to yourself that, ‘All right, I can play this league,’ and I think he did that,” Raiders pass game coordinator Scott Turner said this summer. “And then, once that happens, it’s kind of like the gloves come off and you see how good these guys can truly be.”
Tucker was one of several dozen players who stuck around to train at team headquarters in the winter and spring.
“I don’t think anybody worked harder than Tre this offseason,” Meyers said in July.
Tucker got LASIK eye surgery to improve his depth perception and worked on sharpening his route running, improving his consistency catching the ball and broadening his understanding of the Raiders’ offensive concepts and what opposing defenses were doing to limit him.
“He continues to improve day by day. He’s so mature for a young player,” receivers coach Edgar Bennett said in June. “Just his attitude, his work ethic and his approach — he takes it seriously as though he wants to be the best. And you see it every time he comes into the building.”
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Pierce said Tucker was a “different dude” heading into training camp. He’s always been fast, but he added more nuance to his game. And despite his small stature — he’s 5-foot-9, 185 pounds — Pierce said he played like “the biggest guy out there.”
“He looks different, acts different, runs different, catches the ball different,” Pierce said at the time. “You can see the look in his eye. (He’s) a confident player and a guy that just wants to constantly get better.”
By the end of camp, Tucker didn’t just think he would have a big year. He knew it.
Statistically, though, Tucker has been mediocre. He’s averaging only 4.5 targets (T-74th among receivers), 3.0 catches (T-78th) and 31.7 receiving yards per game (87th).
The advanced statistics, however, paint a slightly different picture — one that suggests Tucker could put up bigger numbers if he’s used more often.
Tucker is averaging 3.28 yards of separation when targeted (22nd among receivers with at least 10 targets), according to TruMedia, so he’s getting open. He has a catch rate of 66.7 percent (T-36th), has zero drops and is 43rd in expected points added per target.
While Tucker was almost exclusively a slot receiver during his college career at Cincinnati, he has become more versatile and has spent 75.7 percent of his snaps lined up on the outside this season. In addition to playing around with his alignment, offensive coordinator Luke Getsy needs to get creative to find him more touches. That could be short-to-intermediate routes that allow Tucker to get the ball in space, vertical shots that use his speed to stretch the defense or even handoffs like his touchdown run against the Browns.
STICKS WITH THE SPEED!!!#CLEvsLV | 📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/u45u6Retvk
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) September 29, 2024
“I mean, that speed is legit. When he’s moving, he’s moving,” Pierce said last month. “The more creative ways we can get the ball in his hands, the better. … The opportunities when he gets the ball in his hands, most of the time it’s something good for the Raiders.”
The next step for Tucker is finding a way to unlock his potential as a deep threat. He has electric speed — he ran a 4.40-second 40-yard dash at the 2023 scouting combine — but the Raiders haven’t been able to put it to use on downfield targets.
The Raiders are averaging just 6.8 air yards per attempt (28th in the league). O’Connell has been inaccurate on downfield throws, and the offensive line has struggled to hold up in pass protection in those situations. So Getsy has shied away from calling them.
That has impacted how Tucker is used. Although he can create yards after the catch, the Raiders won’t be maximizing his skill set until they can get him going vertically.
Tucker can’t control the play calling or his usage. His focus is on turning his flashes into a regular occurrence.
“The amount of work I put in, it’s insane, but I enjoy it,” Tucker said last month. “I want to be one of the greats and one of the best, so I’m going to continue to do it.”
No one is expecting Tucker to immediately fill the void left by Adams, but there is a hope he can take his game to another level. He knows he’s not a finished product, but he’s geared up to show what he’s capable of.
“It’s definitely exciting,” Tucker said of the opportunity in front of him with Adams no longer around. “With him being gone, obviously, you play a few more snaps and you might face a corner No. 1 or corner No. 2.
“But I feel like I’m ready, and I’m not taking that lightly.”
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(Photo: Steve Marcus / Getty Images)
