The Raiders’ quiet superpower? John Spytek built real depth

Stars get the attention, but depth wins in the NFL. The Las Vegas Raiders‘ roster construction under general manager John Spytek could be their quiet superpower.

Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer are going to eat up the headlines this season, and fair enough. But the more interesting story in Klint Kubiak’s offense might be happening a rung down the depth chart, where the Raiders have quietly stockpiled the kind of tight end room that lets a play caller get weird.

Kubiak isn’t shy about it. Twelve personnel, one back and two tight ends, are his bread and butter. But watch for 13 and 23 personnel too, three tight ends on the field at once, deployed in ways that don’t just scream “run play” the second they line up. That only works if the guys behind Bowers and Mayer can actually play. Turns out they can.

Let’s look at the reinforcements…

Start with Ian Thomas. His one-year, $1.6 million deal in March barely made news, and now it looks like one of the sneakier value signings on the roster. Thomas started 10 of 15 games last season, played 318 snaps, and caught 13 passes almost as an afterthought. He blocks well and he can catch it, which in an offense built on disguise is a rare and useful combination.

Then there’s Carter Runyon, an undrafted find out of Towson who only saw 45 offensive snaps as a rookie but flashed real traits: deceptive speed, verticality, and the profile of a receiving tight end rather than a blocker who occasionally releases. One catch for three yards doesn’t tell you much. What he looked like doing it tells you more.

Albert Okwuegbunam Jr. brings something nobody else in the room has, a 4.49 40-yard dash time that would look right at home next to Bowers’. He’s played one game in the last two seasons, so health is the obvious asterisk. But a tight end who can actually threaten a defense vertically is worth keeping around, even as a what-if.

Patrick Gurd, an undrafted rookie built more like a lead blocker, rounds things out. He’s a long shot for the 53-man roster, but his ability to line up inline or in the backfield gives him a puncher’s chance if special teams coaches like what they see.

But that’s not all, folks…

The name to watch, though, is Connor Heyward.

He was signed as a fullback, but his best role may come as a tight end or H-back. Motioning across the formation, he can force linebackers to hesitate between covering him and stopping the run. He caught 12 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown as a Steelers rookie in 2022, showing the potential he can bring. Add 290 special teams snaps last season—nearly double Thomas’ total—and Heyward looks like the true TE3.

That same value shows up at linebacker. Quay Walker and Nakobe Dean arrived with big free-agent contracts, creating a Georgia reunion the Raiders hope can disrupt the AFC West. But Dean’s injury history is real, making the backup plan important. That answer may already be on the roster in Cody Lindenberg.

The seventh-round rookie didn’t play a defensive snap last season, but he led the team in preseason run stops, according to Pro Football Focus, and recorded seven special teams tackles during the regular season. Defensive coordinator Rob Leonard has called him a sponge. A former college captain who processes the game like a coach, Lindenberg looks like the type of hidden find that can turn a good defense into a difficult one to play against.

Training camp will sort out the roster, but the Raiders may already have the depth needed to handle whatever comes next.