It’s the final day of Raiders minicamp which means the last practice before the long layoff until training camp in late July. As for how long we have until football that matters, we have 87 days. Which means we profile that man currently wearing the 87 jersey in Oakland.
TE Jared Cook
One of the newest members of the Silver & Black is their new starting tight end. He comes over from Green Bay where he played one season and left on a high note.
After missing the five games last season to injury, he was on fire when he returned. Over the final 7 games, he caught 24 passes for 324 yards.
He kept it going and even kicked it up a notch in the playoffs, catching 18 passes for 229 yards and 2 touchdowns in three postseason games. That included six catches for 103 yards and a touchdown in a 34-31 win over the Cowboys to help send the Packers to the NFC Championship game.
Despite his late heroics, the Packers went out and signed free agent Martellus Bennett, allowing Cook to walk. With a need at the position, the Raiders snatched him up on a 2-year, $12.2 million deal.
Cook is the starter, but you can expect the Raiders to play a good deal of two tight end sets with Clive Walford and Cook creating mismatches in coverage while defenses will try to cover both of them.
Who wore it best: TE Dave Casper
"The Ghost" is one of the greatest tight ends in NFL history. Watching him play was watching poetry in motion. He played his first six seasons with the Raiders and was an All Pro four straight years from 76-79. The first of those All Pro seasons he helped the Raiders win their first Super Bowl.
Casper is the title player in one of the greatest games in NFL history named after a play called for him -- Ghost to the Post. It was a double overtime playoff game against the Baltimore Colts on Christmas Eve 1977. The play itself was a 42-yard pass from Ken Stabler to Casper which set up a game-tying field goal in the final seconds. Casper also caught the last pass of the game, a 10-yard touchdown pass.
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