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TE Michael Mayer, LV (1 Viewer)

Chris Simms’ 2023 NFL Draft TE Rankings: Dalton Kincaid a tier above the rest

Excerpt:

No. 3: Michael Mayer, Notre Dame

What Simms said: “There’s some things I really like here. The guy has got some traits about him that I’m in love with … Separation was an issue. He did not separate from coverage nearly at the same rate Kincaid and Laporta did … The positive is that he catches the ball in (contested) scenarios a lot. My thing I’m a little worried about is that in the NFL there’s gonna be a little bit better players playing the ball and better athletes and a bigger guy altogether. But his ability, unlike Laporta, to catch the ball with people hanging around him and on him is through the roof good.”
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Separation might be an issue for Mayer in the NFL, but to share NFL HOFer and now ND analyst Tim Brown's assessment of the ND play calling last season... His take was that the OC Tommy Rees was a product of Brian Kelly and Kelly made all the in game adjustments for the Irish in previous seasons. This year Rees was unable to adjust the gameplan on the fly and consistantly resorted to letting Mayer play jump ball against the DB knowing he was a superior talent. Teams knew this and would bracket Mayer knowing he was their only downfield threat.

Mayer may see better talent in coverage at the NFL level, but won't get near the attention he was seeing either.
 
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Raiders traded up with the Colts to select Notre Dame TE Michael Mayer with the No. 35 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.​

The Colts moved down three spots and picked up the No. 141 overall pick in the trade. Mayer will replace Darren Waller in Vegas' offense. Mayer (6'4/249) arrived at Notre Dame in 2020 and immediately took on a starting role. He amassed 450 yards at just 18 years old. His freshman season was just the opening act as he would go on to top 800 receiving yards in each of the next two seasons. After three years, Mayer had set the school record for receptions (180), yards (2,099), and touchdowns (18) by a tight end. Mayer put his best work on the field in his final season. He accounted for 30 percent of the team’s receiving yards and led all FBS tight ends with 2.44 yards per route run. Mayer’s 4.7 40 doesn’t stand out, but it gives him more than enough speed to win at the next level. His routes will also need to get sharper if he’s going to beat top-flight defenders in the NFL, but his production was elite at South Bend and he has the requisite size to square up as a blocker. Mayer may not have an elite ceiling, but projects as an NFL-ready version of Tyler Higbee.
Apr 28, 2023, 7:30 PM ET
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Raiders signed No. 35 overall pick TE Michael Mayer to a four-year contract.​

Mayer slipping out of the first round was one of the surprises of the NFL Draft, but his landing spot couldn't have been much better. The former Notre Dame product will compete with veterans Austin Hooper and O.J. Howard for snaps in training camp and should see significant snaps fairly early in the season. A mass producer who totaled 2,099 yards and 18 touchdowns with the Irish, Mayer brings one of the more productive college resumés to a Raiders' roster that's relatively thin at tight end.
SOURCE: Adam Schefter on Twitter
Jun 14, 2023, 8:11 PM ET
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Silver And Black Pride’s Ray Aspuria believes TE Michael Mayer could develop into a “favorite target” for Jimmy Garoppolo.
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The 35th overall selection in the 2023 NFL Draft, Mayer will presumably replace Darren Waller as the Raiders’ primary pass-catching tight end in 2023. Aspuria said Mayer “runs good routes, can get open, has reliable hands as a pass catcher, and can make defenders miss tackles.” The Raiders taking Mayer out of Notre Dame in the second round of the draft, Aspuria said, “moves the needle on the Raiders’ odds of again being a ground-and-pound run game dominating unit as he’s a tremendous blocker. Whereas Waller was a one-dimensional weapon, Mayer is a complete tight end, which McDaniels prefers.” Austin Hooper’s presence in the Vegas lineup could be a major hinderance to Mayer emerging as an every-week fantasy starter in what will likely be a run-first Vegas offense.
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DeaLerZ said:
How is he looking so far? Seems like a good cheap option at TE with Waller gone
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Redraft wise, I don't feel warm and fuzzy about starting him at TE.

Dynasty wise, I think he's almost undervalued due to the hype around Kincaid.
 
jm192 said:
Redraft wise, I don't feel warm and fuzzy about starting him at TE
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I wouldn't feel great about Kincaid, LaPorta, Mayer and Musgrave as my TE1

but I think it's a perfect pairing if you take a non-premium TE as your starter

late season upside is a thing for rookie TEs sometimes, that's all you're doing with that swing - can't rely on them week to week
 
BobbyLayne said:
jm192 said:
Redraft wise, I don't feel warm and fuzzy about starting him at TE
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I wouldn't feel great about Kincaid, LaPorta, Mayer and Musgrave as my TE1

but I think it's a perfect pairing if you take a non-premium TE as your starter

late season upside is a thing for rookie TEs sometimes, that's all you're doing with that swing - can't rely on them week to week
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Sure. I think Mayer as your TE2 makes a lot of sense.

And agree--I'm not looking to have any of the rookies as my TE1.
 
Non-existant so far - I know typical rookie TEs dont produce (except Laporta!) but Mayer's been nowhere. They traded up to #35 to get him - I dont watch a lot of Raiders games - any readout on him so far?
 
Kiddnets said:
Non-existant so far - I know typical rookie TEs dont produce (except Laporta!) but Mayer's been nowhere. They traded up to #35 to get him - I dont watch a lot of Raiders games - any readout on him so far?
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From what I’ve seen, just the worst possibly destination for him. They funnel targets and it’s top heavy. Hunter refrow can’t get any looks so Mayer is never going to be a fantasy factor until
Mcdaniels is canned
 

Beat Writer: Second-Round Pick is “Being Wasted Right Now” by the Raiders
​

One of the biggest concerns of the Josh McDaniels era in Las Vegas (other than his record), is the fact that he has struggled to get talented players involved in the offense.

Hunter Renfrow has become a forgotten piece in McDaniels’ offense and tight end Michael Mayer, who the Raiders traded up to draft at pick 35, has only one reception for 2 yards on the season.

In regard to Mayer, Vinny Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal has the same question as everyone else…
How does that happen?

“You drafted Michael Mayer and right now he’s just a de facto blocker,” Bonsignore said on The Morning Tailgate With Clay Baker. “That’s not what he was a Notre Dame. He was a focal of the offense. He was there offense last year.”

“[He is] somebody that is being wasted right now in how he’s just being used as a blocker, which wasn’t necessarily his strength to begin with and it’s definitely been a work in progress for him,” Bonsignore continued. “I believe he’s eventually going to get it and turn into an upside blocker, but in the meantime how about using him the way he was intended to be used, which is getting him the ball. He’s a big weapon in the middle of the field, you can dump it off to him, he’s going to run over some people. He’s just being wasted right now.”

Unfortunately for the Raiders, most of their 2023 draft has been limited in their contributions to this point in the season.

Tyree Wilson was the seventh-overall pick in the draft and his struggles have been well documented over the first four games of the season.

Tre Tucker was exciting in his 34-yard carry against the Bills, but he hasn’t touched the ball since.

Jakorian Bennett was a starting cornerback in the first three games of the season, but saw his snap count drop significantly in week 4.

Aidan O’Connell showed positive signs in his first NFL start, but he is reportedly headed back to the bench when Jimmy Garoppolo returns from a concussion.

And that pretty well sums up the Raiders draft through the first four weeks of the season…
 
McDaniels gonna McDaniel. But you don't draft a rookie te to start their first year anyway. Laporta is the exception, not the rule.
 
wgoldsph said:
McDaniels gonna McDaniel. But you don't draft a rookie te to start their first year anyway. Laporta is the exception, not the rule.
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True but this won’t even be a developmental /nfl red shirt year for Mayer, I had zero expectations for Mayer this year and he will somehow far fall below that
 
McD seems to coddle his rookies , he seems afraid they will make him look bad , even though he already looks awful.

He should play them and let them learn, this season is toast anyways , let them learn so they are ready to go full bore next season
 
He has started the last two games and is garnering a 50% snap share. I imagine his snap share will go up as the season progresses but his utilization may not. The problem is no one told McDaniels or the QBs that in 2023 you are allowed to throw the ball to more than two players per game. Once someone updates them on these new rules, watch out.
 
Since he played the Pats I got to watch him for a whole game...he looked very good...some bad play-calling from McDaniels held him back from having a monster game...kid was wide-open on all his targets and he ran well and physical after the catch....definitely looks the part.
 
LaPorta is in his own rookie TE tier now, but how do people see him versus Kincaid and Musgrave both this year and beyond?
 
Michael Mayer played 57-of-70 offensive snaps for the Raiders in their Week 6 win over the Patriots.

It’s only natural that Michael Mayer (apologies for the bad joke) would emerge during spooky season, as the Raiders’ rookie tight end has now seen a significant increase in snaps and targets over each of the last two weeks. Mayer’s 57 snaps were double what fellow tight end Austin Hooper saw, while his 22 routes drastically out-paced Hooper’s nine. Playing in an offense that’s throwing at a 57 percent in neutral game scripts, Mayer is fast becoming a fantasy-relevant tight end, and could be a fringe TE1 in Week 7 against the Bears. Those riding the tight end carousel would be wise to add him this week.
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My greatest dynasty concern with Mayer is from what I have read he is a good all around TE which means he could be used a lot as a blocker and limiting some of his going out to catch passes.
 
Warhogs said:
My greatest dynasty concern with Mayer is from what I have read he is a good all around TE which means he could be used a lot as a blocker and limiting some of his going out to catch passes.
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Fair point, but if he’s that good of a pass catcher he’ll get his opportunities.

Only in fantasy football do you want a player to really stink at one of his primary responsibilities.
 
My tight end journey has been a really sad journey. I won't get into details. I've started 5 different ones and it's week 7 now. Smh. It's the reason I'm in this thread. Major increase in snaps. Nice targets. Ugh. I can't believe I'm wanting to believe in this guy. Please help me.
 
Raiders TE Michael Mayer (toe) did not practice Thursday.

This is the first we’ve heard of the toe injury. The rookie tight end will have two more chances to get on the practice field before the team’s Week 16 Monday Night Football showdown with the AFC-rival Chiefs. Mayer had worked his way up to a 94 percent snap rate prior to a reduced workload in Week 15, which could be due to the toe injury he now has listed.
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Okay, licking my wounds from last night. Drafted Mayer at the 3.11 last year. Immediately packaged him for Goff. Pounced on him when the guy I traded him to dropped him.

Is it safe to say that Mayer will never be a top-12 fantasy TE as long as he's a Raider? It wasn't a given before last night, but it would require a Bowser injury from here on out, right? Is it safe to assume that even with more 2-te sets, his snap count will decrease from his rookie year and route % will plummet?

I didn't need Mayer, but was looking forward to keeping him around for the long haul and seeing how far he could ascend. Now, I don't know that there's any reason he would have more value than Tucker Kraft. At least Kraft has a puncher's chance of beating the guy thought to be ahead of him in the fantasy pecking order.

He was a must hold. Now, I think I have to cut him ahead of McLaughlin or Demario Douglas. I can even make a case for Tucker Kraft or Zeke. Overreaction to just cut this guy loose after this selection?
 
rough for Mayer - I can see Bowers being the catching TE and Mayer being kept in more. No good way to spin it. Im holding to see what happens but not optimistic
 
The optimist in me says stay patient. Maybe they use Mayer as ammo in a future trade, bringing back a less dynamic blocking TE.

The reality is that this never happens. Sadly, I think this one goes down as a fine gamble for the price that simply didn't work out. No sense clogging up a roster spot until he hits free agency.
 
This is no doubt a disappointing development if you are holding shares of Mayer. However, there is some hope that Mayer is the Gronk to Bowers' Hernandez. I am buying shares of Mayer if they drop.
 
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