Steve Marcus/AP
Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Tre Tucker (11) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Los Angeles Chargers during the first half of an NFL football game, Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Steve Marcus)
Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023 | 2 a.m.
In the first five games under interim coach Antonio Pierce, one of the Raiders’ biggest year-long problems persisted: They couldn’t mount a vertical passing attack.
The continued struggles were a source of particular frustration for Pierce and interim offensive coordinator Bo Hardegree because they thought they had a solution — rookie receiver Tre Tucker. Pierce was confident Tucker could “split the safeties” but he only showed it in one instance — a 50-yard catch down the seam in a blowout win over the Giants.
Deep calls for Tucker in the next four games were consistently stymied for one reason or another.
“It’s been, ‘When is it going to come to Tre,’” Pierce described Wednesday. “‘When’s it going to come?’”
It came in last Thursday’s 63-21 victory over the Chargers.
A number of players exploded in the record-setting victory, but none of them blew the game as wide open as the third-round pick speedster out of Cincinnati.
Tucker was the lone Raider to score two touchdowns, the first two of his career. The first came on a 30-yard deep ball from quarterback Aidan O’Connell for the Raiders’ longest offensive play of the game to make the score 14-0 in the first quarter.
The second was on a 20-yard out route to go up 42-0 right before halftime.
“It’s been a long time coming,” O’Connell said. “I’m sure he wished it would have happened earlier but I think he’s going to score a lot of touchdowns in this league. I was happy to see him succeed and succeed on a big stage like that.”
The Raiders are hoping Tucker’s next touchdown comes on an even bigger stage when they travel to play the Kansas City Chiefs at 10 a.m. Monday for their Week 16 game.
Las Vegas has lost six straight times to Kansas City, with the last win in Week 5 of the 2020 season. Much has changed with both teams since then, but the Raiders largely pulled off that upset victory by attacking down the field through the air.
If that’s the plan this year, Tucker is the one who will blaze the trail to victory.
“There’s nothing that you can prepare for when that speed gets up on you,” Pierce said. “I think that confidence in (the Chargers’) game and what came out of it for him, making those catches, is huge — not just for him but for us as a team.”
Tucker has lived up to his scouting report in both positive and negative ways. While his gamebreaking speed has turned out to be all it was cracked up to be, his unsteady hands have also caused problems.
Tucker couldn’t even fully celebrate his first professional touchdowns because he was too worried it would be overturned. The play was reviewed because Tucker was bobbling the ball as he attempted to get both feet down in the end zone.
The officials ultimately announced that the call on the field of a touchdown stood, but it wasn’t without controversy and some believing it wasn’t a catch.
“I have to do a better job of focusing on the ball,” Tucker said. “It’s not that I don’t trust myself. It’s just that sometimes, in those situations, you kind of get googly-eyed. I settled in and the second (the play) got called, I wanted to make sure I landed (in bounds) because the NFL you have to have two feet down.”
Tucker’s focus, if not anxiety, about getting both feet down has caused issues dating back to training camp. He couldn’t complete a long catch along the sidelines in the Raiders’ first preseason game, a win over the 49ers.
But it’s helped that he’s always maintained the support of his teammates. O’Connell and Tucker both mentioned they have a “special relationship” that sprung right after they were drafted at rookie minicamp in May.
“I remember talking to him about the routes we’re trying to learn and the different concepts and stuff,” O’Connell said. “Our heads were definitely spinning a little bit.”
Tucker eventually leaned on veteran star teammate Davante Adams to expedite his learning curve. The 30-year-old All-Pro Adams admits to some jealousy of Tucker’s speed as the rookie ran a 4.4 40-yard dash out of college as opposed to his own 4.56 in 2014.
But the way Tucker utilizes his jets is what impresses Adams.
“It’s not common that (fast) guys even care,” Adams said of route-running. “I don’t think it’s that fast guys can’t do it. I just think that they take the easy way out. They know they’re fast and take a super wide release on a go route rather that actually doing it, releasing on a guy and getting miles open. If I could run like Tre, I would still be detailed like that just to obliterate the coverage every single time. When you look at it, there’s only a couple guys in the league (that can do that).”
Tucker is still quite a ways off from reaching that category with the likes of Dolphins star Tyreek Hill, whom Adams mentioned, but the hope is he can establish himself on the right path over the final three games of the season.
The Raiders have one of the better receiving corps in the league, but have been missing a consistent deep threat this season. After the win against the Chargers, the hope is that they’re not missing that dimension anymore.
“My understanding is my role is what I make it, those were (former coach Josh McDaniels’) exact words,” Tucker said. “So, obviously through training camp, preseason, I had a few ups and downs. But each and every week, I’ve just gotten better.”
Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or
