The Oakland Raiders finished 6th in total offense last season, but interestingly enough, only 13th in passing with a pedestrian 4,051 yards. This sounds a bit weird as the Raiders were known to have a prominent passing attack with Derek Carr playing at MVP level before the leg injury, but the reason might actually be the lack of a reliable threat at tight end.
In 2016, Oakland’s tight ends — Lee Smith, Clive Walford and the recent Jaguars acquisition Mychal Rivera — finished with a combined 580 yards and 4 TDs. Just for comparison purposes, the trio combined for less yards than sixteen individual tight ends.