Las Vegas Raiders Michael Mayer and Brock Bowers are a headache for opposing defense

The Las Vegas Raiders traded up in the second round of last year’s NFL Draft to select Michael Mayer, one of the best tight ends to come out of college football in recent memory. Then, they selected Brock Bowers, one of the few tight ends to be drafted over the last decade, in this year’s draft.

The Raiders, who struggled on offense all last season, now have two of the best tight ends to enter the National Football League in a very long time. With a new offensive coordinator and a revamped offense, the Raiders can line up two tight ends who can block or catch passes and do so equally well.

Considering the draft picks invested in bringing Mayer and Bowers to Las Vegas, the Raiders plan on using a lot of 12 personnel—lining up two tight ends and one running back in the backfield. Raiders Coach Antonio Pierce says he expects 12 personnel to give opposing defenses difficulty.

"Successful, I mean you look at the National Football League, it's difficult,” Pierce said. “I mean, being a former player going against 12 personnel, the matchups, the alignments that they get you in, and what you do defensively, I think, becomes an issue as well.”

Coach Pierce, a former NFL linebacker himself, says the formation wasn’t used as much when he played and that times have changed.

“It wasn't as big. If you're thinking about 12 personnel in the 2000s it was a true Y, like that extra O-linemen and that really skilled player. The [Jeremy] Shockey's, the [Jason Witten's of the world, Chris Cooley's, and those guys in the division I played in.”

“And then you had that guy that was just like, man, he's 6'6, 270, just an extra offensive lineman. This is different; you’re talking about skill players who can catch the ball, who can come out the backfield, who can do a lot of different things for you, and you see it. Kansas City does it a lot with their tight ends."

Pierce looks forward to Mayer and Bowers growing together in the league.

“But you're looking at really - I think we're fortunate to have two tight ends on our roster, that in the last four years of college football were pretty much the best two, and I think hopefully that creates issues. It's going to create issues for us at practice. We'll see that. In our division, we've got some really good tight ends, so it'll be good reps for us as well."

“I think the first thing I talked to Mike [Mayer] right away when we drafted [Bowers], and I said, ‘Damn, this is going to be a great combination.’ Two young studs to grow up together within our organization that can help us win a lot of games.”

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