KEY MATCHUP: Raiders TE Waller presents a huge challenge

There are certain players in the NFL who defy logic.

When you look at Darren Waller, at 6-foot-6, 255 pounds, you see a massive tight end. Then you see him run. You see him catch passes. Players this big aren’t supposed to move like that. It’s a big reason the 28-year-old has blossomed into one of the best tight ends in the NFL.

Waller creates mismatches every time he steps on a football field. He’s too big for most cornerbacks. He’s too fast for [...]

There are certain players in the NFL who defy logic.

When you look at Darren Waller, at 6-foot-6, 255 pounds, you see a massive tight end. Then you see him run. You see him catch passes. Players this big aren’t supposed to move like that. It’s a big reason the 28-year-old has blossomed into one of the best tight ends in the NFL.

Waller creates mismatches every time he steps on a football field. He’s too big for most cornerbacks. He’s too fast for many linebackers. He’s even too athletic for most safeties. He’s a problem and one that the Patriots will have to deal with when the Las Vegas Raiders enter Gillette Stadium on Sunday.

"He’s really, really tough. I think it’s been such a long time since we’ve seen a guy like this.," said Bill Belichick. "He’s really got great receiver skills, played receiver. He’s got a lot of length like a big receiver does, but he’s got very good quickness and he blocks very competitively. He’s not afraid to mix it up. So, he’s definitely more than a receiver playing tight end, but he’s got all the skills that can come inside. He’s a very good inside receiver, which sometimes the wideouts have trouble making that move in there. He’s really been impressive to watch.

"We saw him last year, looked at him in the offseason and you just see him doing everything — playing wide, playing in the backfield, playing tight end, running deep, catch-and-run plays, blocking, flash plays, point-of-attack plays. So, very versatile player, pretty unique guy in the league. There’s some really good tight ends, but nobody really does more than this guy does and he does it very well. He’s got excellent hands and makes a lot of tough catches. He’s definitely a matchup problem."

Waller’s story is an interesting one. He was a sixth-round pick by Baltimore in 2015 after playing wide receiver at Georgia Tech. He spent his rookie season on the injured reserve. He was then suspended four games in 2016 for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy. In 2017, he was suspended again, this time for the year.

In 2018, the Ravens cut him and signed him to the practice squad. Midway through the season, the Raiders signed him to their 53-man roster.

In 2019 Waller finished with 90 receptions for 1,145 yards and three touchdowns.

"He's a great athlete, man," said Patriots safety Adrian Phillips, a former Charger who played against Waller last season. "You watch him on film and honestly, I feel like the film really doesn't give him justice as far as how fast he's moving. And he's a converted tight end, so I think he started out as a receiver. Guy's running like a 4.4 and then they move him to tight end, so he's primarily matched up on safeties and sometimes linebackers.

"Sometimes those guys have no shot just because he has everything in his bag like a wide receiver and he's able to still be physical at the top of the route and then run away from you. He's a great target for those guys and they utilize him real well."

It’ll be fascinating to see how the Patriots match up with Waller. They could utilize 6-3 defensive back JoeJuan Williams. He did a good job of handling Miami’s Mike Gesicki (three catches for 30 yards) in Week 1, but it’s likely that Waller finds himself matched up against several Patriots defensive players.

The Raiders like to move Waller around to try to create mismatches on the field. Last weekend, Raiders quarterback Derek Carr threw to Waller 16 times. The tight end finished with 12 catches for 105 yards and a score against the New Orleans Saints.

"I think, Coach (Jon) Gruden does a great job of trying to disguise his guys and move them around and make it tough for you to actually take him off the field, so to speak," said Phillips. "It's going to be tough and we know that they're going to have a lot of shifts, a lot of motions, different personnels in different gimmicks. … That actually makes the game more fun and more challenging so it'll be interesting to see how they do that."

DARREN WALLER

TIGHT END

HT: 6-6 WT: 255

YR: 4 AGE: 28

CAREER VS. PATRIOTS: In one game, Waller caught one pass for three yards and a touchdown.

THE SKINNY: The Raiders love Waller. So does quarterback Derek Carr. Waller leads Las Vegas in targets, receptions and receiving yards. It’s not really close, either. Waller has been targeted 24 times through two games. The next closest is running back Josh Jacobs with nine. The tight end is dynamic and he’ll be a big piece of the offense on Sunday. If the Patriots slow him down, they’ll have a better chance at slowing down the Raiders, who have scored 68 points over two weeks.

JOEJUAN WILLIAMS

CORNERBACK

HT: 6-3 WT: 212

YR: 2 AGE: 22

CAREER VS. RAIDERS: This will be Williams’ first game against the Raiders.

THE SKINNY: Typically, this would be Patrick Chung’s job but he opted out due to coronavirus concerns. Bill Belichick tried to bring in former Pro Bowl cornerback Aqib Talib to replace Chung but that didn’t work out. Now, the job belongs to Williams. In Week 1, he allowed just one catch when covering Dolphins tight end Mike Gesicki. That was a solid start against an athletic tight end. Williams will likely need some help this weekend because that’s been the case for most defenses in the NFL when it comes to Waller.