From Jared Cook to Darren Waller. In 2018, Cook totaled 68 catches for 896 yards and six touchdowns for the Oakland Raiders. Cook is now in New Orleans and the Raiders seem to have a new star tight end.
Waller began his career with the Baltimore Ravens where he was not used that often. Last year, he backed up Cook and waited his turn. That has paid off big time so far. The Raiders are just 1-2, but Waller has been the biggest bright spot on the team.
Through three games, Waller has 26 catches for 267 yards. He has yet to find the end zone, but that is much in part because Derek Carr has only thrown four touchdowns, three of which have gone to Tyrell Williams. Waller finished one catch shy of the Raiders' franchise record in catches in their previous game. He finished with 13 catches against the Minnesota Vikings. His first catch came in the second quarter.
Is Darren Waller For Real?
It takes time to determine the legitimacy of a player, especially an unknown tight end. Waller was drafted out of Georgia Tech. The 6-foot-6 tight end was never given a chance until this season and he is making the most of it.
Waller totaled seven catches for 70 yards in Week 1 against the Denver Broncos. That immediately opened the eyes of the league. He followed it up with six catches for 63 yards in Week 2 and a massive 13-catch, 134-yard performance in Week 3. Waller leads a bad offense in Oakland. He has 12 more catches and 87 more yards than anyone on the team.
The Raiders are averaging 16 points per game which is 29th in the league. They are not going to win many games. When looking at Waller, it is hard to say he is not the real deal. Pro Football Focus has Waller ranked as the third-best tight end so far this season behind George Kittle and Mark Andrews.
Waller is a strong pass catcher and has shown the ability to be a blocker in the run game. He is a do-it-all tight end. Moving forward, teams will begin to game plan to take him out of the game, so it will be interesting to see how Waller responds. Through three weeks, Waller has shown that he is the next budding star tight end in the league.
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