Mychal Rivera Running With Oakland Raiders First Team Offense

Earlier this off-season, Oakland Raiders head coach Dennis Allen called tight end Mychal Rivera a potential “foundation player” in Oakland’s offense.

A lot of off-season talk proves to be nonsense and coach-speak, but the Raiders have stayed true to their commitment to Rivera by having him play with the first-team offense during mini-camps.

Rivera, along with fellow tight end David Ausberry, has been running with the first-team offense and has displayed solid receiving skills, according to Raiders beat writer Scott Bair.

From CSNBayArea.com

"Tight ends David Ausberry and Mychal Rivera have been running with the first team, and both have receiving talent."

Rivera caught 38 passes for 407 yards and four touchdowns as a rookie in 2013. Recently we compared the former Vol’s rookie numbers to those of some of the great tight ends in the game today. Rivera’s numbers were surprisingly similar.

The Raiders could have something special on their hands. While Rivera isn’t a great blocker, he is an underrated pass-catcher that never got a chance to shine at Tennessee due to players like Justin Hunter, Cordarrelle Patterson and Da’Rick Rogers being in front of him on the depth chart.

Rivera has yet to show his full potential. If the Raiders’ offense can find some sort of consistency, then we could see Mychal Rivera break out in a big way in 2014.

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