Dave Ziegler Evaluates Raiders' Tight End Room

The Las Vegas Raiders will look quite a bit different at the tight end position this season.

Following the Darren Waller trade and Foster Moreau's stepping away from football for the time being, the club will be looking to others to take on the prominent tight end roles.

Raiders General Manager Dave Ziegler gave his evaluation on the tight end room when he joined "Upon Further Review With Eddie Paskal" on Monday.

"I think it's a group that has good versatility," Ziegler said. "And I'll start even going back even all the way to Cole Fotheringham. He spent the year on our practice squad. We saw a lot of development out of Cole. Cole was a guy that had showed the ability in practice during our competitive periods to be able to get open and catch the football, and he also has an edge and a toughness to him that allowed him to be competitive as a run-blocker. And so we liked that.

And then Jesper Horsted's back with us, and Jesper created a role for himself in the kicking game, which having a player that can do that and get to the game each week and contribute on fourth down is a very important thing. And Jesper showed the ability as a pass-catcher to be able to, again, a guy that can get open, and he can get open from some different alignments.

And then, we added, obviously, O.J. Howard and Austin Hooper, and O.J.'s a big target. You've seen him throughout his career be able to show up in the red zone. He's a big target to work down the seam. He has a wide catch radius where the quarterback doesn't always have to be perfect. He's showed the ability to go up and get the football. And then, he has the size -- the size and length -- to be competitive as a run-blocker on the edge.

Then you go to Austin Hooper, who's really, again, he's been a consistent guy throughout his career in terms of being a productive pass-catcher. He finds a way to get open, he finds a way to catch the football. Austin has, I'd say, a high football IQ. His ability to operate in zone coverage, to find voids in zone coverage, to find open creases where he's able to catch the football and find those holes on the run is something that's been attractive to us.

"And Austin's also a guy that's developed into a player that's figured out what he needs to do to be successful as a blocker; he doesn't need to go out there and try to drive people off the ball, but he can use his athleticism, he uses his technique, he uses his run fits to be able to be in an effective position blocker and be someone that can be competitive out there in the run game, too."

The 2023 NFL Draft will go from April 27-29 and be held at Union Station in Kansas City, Mo. The 2023 NFL Year and Free Agency period began at 4 p.m. EDT on March 15.

The Raiders are expected to be significant players in the free-agent market this offseason.

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