The Raiders signed Jared Cook this offseason, filling a team need after Clive Walford was a disappointment as the main tight end a year ago. The question is if the general lack of production was due to Walford, or the offense -- and if Cook is really the guy to fix things anyway.
Cook has never been a big scorer. He caught 5 TDs in his first year with the Rams, back in 2013, but just 4 TDs total in his last three seasons. And Oakland, perhaps in part because it hasn't had the right player at the position, hasn't thrown a lot of its scoring passes to tight ends.
The Raiders have thrown 63 TD passes the last two seasons, 10 of which have gone to tight ends. That's just 16 percent, a bottom-10 figure. Cook's two teams in that time frame, the Packers and Rams, are also down among the league's lesser teams in that regard.
Team passing touchdown figures the last two seasons, overall and to tight ends, are shown below.
| PASSING TDS BY TEAM, 2015-2016 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | 2015 | TEs | 2016 | TEs | Total | TE | % |
| Cincinnati | 31 | 14 | 18 | 6 | 49 | 20 | 41% |
| Cleveland | 20 | 9 | 15 | 5 | 35 | 14 | 40% |
| San Diego | 30 | 10 | 33 | 15 | 63 | 25 | 40% |
| Minnesota | 14 | 6 | 20 | 7 | 34 | 13 | 38% |
| New England | 36 | 15 | 32 | 11 | 68 | 26 | 38% |
| Tampa Bay | 22 | 8 | 29 | 11 | 51 | 19 | 37% |
| Tennessee | 25 | 10 | 29 | 10 | 54 | 20 | 37% |
| Washington | 30 | 12 | 25 | 8 | 55 | 20 | 36% |
| San Francisco | 16 | 6 | 21 | 7 | 37 | 13 | 35% |
| Chicago | 21 | 8 | 19 | 5 | 40 | 13 | 33% |
| Indianapolis | 26 | 5 | 32 | 12 | 58 | 17 | 29% |
| Kansas City | 20 | 6 | 19 | 5 | 39 | 11 | 28% |
| Philadelphia | 23 | 6 | 16 | 5 | 39 | 11 | 28% |
| Houston | 29 | 4 | 15 | 7 | 44 | 11 | 25% |
| Baltimore | 21 | 5 | 20 | 5 | 41 | 10 | 24% |
| Miami | 24 | 6 | 27 | 6 | 51 | 12 | 24% |
| Carolina | 35 | 9 | 21 | 4 | 56 | 13 | 23% |
| New Orleans | 32 | 11 | 38 | 4 | 70 | 15 | 21% |
| Atlanta | 21 | 2 | 38 | 10 | 59 | 12 | 20% |
| Jacksonville | 35 | 6 | 24 | 6 | 59 | 12 | 20% |
| Los Angeles | 11 | 2 | 14 | 3 | 25 | 5 | 20% |
| Dallas | 16 | 4 | 25 | 4 | 41 | 8 | 20% |
| Seattle | 34 | 4 | 23 | 7 | 57 | 11 | 19% |
| Buffalo | 23 | 3 | 17 | 4 | 40 | 7 | 18% |
| Green Bay | 31 | 9 | 40 | 3 | 71 | 12 | 17% |
| Oakland | 34 | 5 | 29 | 5 | 63 | 10 | 16% |
| Detroit | 33 | 8 | 24 | 1 | 57 | 9 | 16% |
| Denver | 19 | 4 | 20 | 2 | 39 | 6 | 15% |
| Pittsburgh | 26 | 3 | 33 | 6 | 59 | 9 | 15% |
| Arizona | 35 | 6 | 28 | 3 | 63 | 9 | 14% |
| NY Giants | 36 | 5 | 26 | 3 | 62 | 8 | 13% |
| NY Jets | 33 | 1 | 16 | 0 | 49 | 1 | 2% |
--Andy Richardson