Brock’s Fantasy Firepower + Tyree’s Crucial Camp

TIME FOR TYREE TO STEP UP

It’s a critical camp for Tyree Wilson. There’s no way around it, his first two seasons in the NFL have left a little bit to be desired for many fans.

Through two seasons, he has 35 total tackles, nine sacks, two forced fumbles, 10 QB hits, and 42 hurries (per PFF).

Have unfair expectations been placed upon him? Sure, but that’s what comes with being drafted number seven overall. Even though he’s been a bit slow out of the gates, his new coach thinks the third time is the charm for Tyree.

Raiders fans are hoping Pete is right. Especially now, since there’s a big vacancy in the middle of their defense after the team released Christian Wilkins on Thursday.

We’ve seen several guys taking snaps at three-technique since the Raiders opened camp. Second-year defensive lineman Jonah Laulu has gotten the bulk of the work with the ones at that spot, but as Pete mentioned above, Tyree is “moving around.”

Back in 2023, then-interim head coach Antonio Pierce and defensive coordinator Patrick Graham introduced us to the “NASCAR package,” which deploys four defensive ends, instead of two ends and two defensive tackles, to bring a little more speed to the pass rush. In that package, Tyree had some success inside and even racked up a then-career-high five pressures in the Raiders’ week 16 win over the Kansas City Chiefs. So moving around, inside in particular, is nothing new for Tyree, and it’s something he’s had some success with, even if it’s a bit different than what he’s used to.

The game inside is faster and the knock on Tyree early on in his career was his get off, a critical aspect for a defensive lineman but if you listen to coach Carrol and his defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, it sounds like he’s playing at a much faster pace, now it’s just about adding more weapons to his arsenal.

I know what some of you must be thinking, ‘If Tyree is our answer inside, we’re in trouble,’ and I don’t think you’re wrong. But I don’t think he’ll be the lone answer inside. I think he’ll be part of the rotation. As much as many of you hate to hear about a former seventh overall pick being a rotational guy, that’s just the reality of the situation, and at this point, you can’t hold that against this staff.

Here’s my take on things: I think Jonah Laulu ends up being their top option. I like what I’ve seen out of him since he arrived in Vegas last year, and Maxx has been impressed too. He told us earlier this week that Laulu is going to be “A hell of a player, he just doesn’t know it yet.”

As for Tyree, he’s proven to be pretty effective as a rotational player. Pro Football Focus gave him a 72.4 run defense grade, which is good for 29th in the league among defensive ends. He also tallied 24 of his 37 pressures from week 11 on last year, so things seemed to be moving in the right direction for him down the stretch.

The big question now is, how much can Pete and this new staff get out of the former seventh overall pick? Fans don’t expect much, but the coaches are speaking highly of him, so we’ll have to revisit this later in the year to see who ends up being right.

MISS ANYTHING?

Catch up on some of our recent stories:

FANTASY GOLD AT TE — WILL GENO FEED BROCK?

It’s week two of training camp, and some of you sickos are already doing fantasy football drafts, you know who you are. So with that in mind, let’s talk some fantasy football.

Pro Football Focus released its annual fantasy tight end rankings this week. If you haven’t already caught on, I’m a PFF guy. It should come as no surprise that Raiders tight end Brock Bowers topped David Jahnke’s list. When you burst on the scene with an All-Pro season right out of the gates and lead the league in receptions and receiving yards for a tight end, that will happen. As for his expectations for Brock in year two, Janke had this to say:

He went on to say this coaching staff (Pete Carroll in particular) has a history of leaning toward the committee approach to the tight end position, so that could cut into his snaps since guys like Michael Mayer and Ian Thomas have more run-blocking chops. That’s a fair take, both Mayer and Thomas are bigger-bodied guys, and I do think they’ll get a decent amount of usage. But Brock is the top dog, and Chip Kelly mentioned they’ll be using him in a variety of ways.

Chip went on to mention how football is borrowing from basketball a bit in terms of teams looking for “position-less” players who can line up all over the formation. He even went on to say Brock is one of those guys who can be a tight end, a receiver, and at times a running back. With that in mind, I think we could see Brock used in so many ways that I wouldn’t be too worried about his snaps being a bit lower at the true in-line tight end position, he should get plenty of you burn elsewhere. If you’ve got any doubts, just go back and watch the tape from his time at Georgia to see what Chip may be thinking.

BUT GENO DOESN’T THROW TO TIGHT ENDS?

I also saw a comment from somebody on X (Twitter) noting that Geno Smith doesn’t throw to tight ends. I won’t respond to every comment on Twitter, but this one sparked my interest. So let’s take a look at how often Geno looked to his tight ends in Seattle.

In the graphic above from statmuse, you’ll see Noah Fant is the only guy with stats of note in that group. He also never had more than 65 targets or 500 receiving yards in a single season with Geno Smith at the helm. Brock Bowers had 153 targets and 1,194 receiving yards. That’s with Gardner Minshew, Aidan O’Connell, and Desmond Ridder at quarterback. Noah Fant is not Brock Bowers, and those guys are not Geno Smith. What I’m getting at is, Geno Smith may not have thrown to tight ends at the highest rate in Seattle, but he’s also never had a guy like Brock Bowers, and Brock Bowers has never had a quarterback like Geno Smith. Don’t take my word for it on all that, though; here’s what Geno had to say about Brock earlier this week.

Sounds like a guy who’s gonna be looking for Brock, A LOT.

Fantasy football fans, take note. 

OBSERVATIONS FROM PRACTICE

• We’ve got to start with the quarterbacks. Geno and Aidan were DEALING in the first half of practice. Throughout the team sessions, Geno looked on point and hit Tre Tucker over the middle on a deep post for a score. A couple of series later, he followed that up by dropping one in the bucket to Brock in a redone session, perfect placement, and a great catch by Bowers on the sideline, too. Aidan also had some big moments. He hit rookie receiver Jack Bech for a score on what looked like the same play as the one Geno and Tre connected on from about 40 yards out. During that same session, he dropped a dime to Alex Bachman in the end zone for the score.

• What struck me about the two of them was the way they celebrated each other. Each time Geno delivered a big-time throw, Aidan was the first to run up and give him his props, and vice versa. If you’re a Raiders fan, you have to love to see that kind of relationship between your QBs.

• We also got our first scuffle of camp. Rookie guard Caleb Rogers and defensive tackle Adam Butler started throwing some blows at each other after the whistle for a second. It was short-lived, but a sign that they’re all ready to throw the pads on.

• With that in mind, Adam Butler was feisty on Sunday. The guy was flying around and playing real physical for a dude in shorts and a helmet. He’s ready to hit somebody.

• Jonah Laulu continues to impress me. He’s shown he can play multiple positions along the defensive line, and I think he’ll be a real asset for the team this season.

• Dont’e Thornton is another guy who’s caught everyone’s eye. He’s getting a lot of opportunities, and today we saw him beat fellow rookie Darien Porter on a comeback. It was one rep, but if that guy can prove he has a full route tree in his bag, watch out. He later lost a jump ball battle to Decameron Richardson on the goal line, too. After those two plays, I just thought how fun it will be to watch the three of them battle over the years in practice.

• I gave the quarterbacks their praise at the top of the practice observations, but we can’t forget about the defense. Even though Geno and Aidan shined in the first half, the defense (all three units) stepped up down the stretch:

  — The ones forced a field goal in a rezone drill

  — Decamerion had that aforementioned PBU

  — Greedy Vance read Aidan like a book and picked off a pass over the middle.

  — And when the threes were out there, Michael Barrett picked off Cam Miller too, I didn’t get a good look at how that one went down, though.

WHAT’S NEXT?

We'll be back out at Raiders practice today for their first day in pads! Praise the pigskin gods, real football is back! 🙌

With that in mind, make sure you keep your eyes and ears peeled for our first episode of the Silver & Black Sports Network Podcast. We were hoping to drop the first episode last Friday, but ran into some issues with the studio setup. That’s since been fixed, so we should be ready to roll after practice today.

Catch ya next time,