The NFL trade deadline is seen as an opportunity for teams in playoff contention to bolster their rosters. It’s also a chance for teams at the bottom of the league standings to stock up on draft picks and prepare for the years to come.
The Las Vegas Raiders sit with a 2-6 record and last place in the AFC West. Combined with their overtime loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars this past Sunday, the team elected to sell at the deadline.
The team traded wide receiver Jakobi Meyers to the Jaguars for a fourth- and sixth-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. With the team losing its leading receiver this season, who is left for quarterback Geno Smith to sling the rock to?
There are better options at receiver than one might think.
Brock Bowers, TE
In the team’s close overtime loss to the Jaguars, Geno Smith threw four touchdown passes. Not one of them went to Meyers. In fact, Meyers hasn’t recorded a receiving touchdown all season.
Starting tight end Brock Bowers returned from a knee injury that held him out of the team’s past three games and looked like Smith’s favorite option. In his return, Bowers caught 12 passes for 127 yards and three of Smith’s four touchdowns.
Brock Bowers in his return:
• 13 targets (33.3% target share)
• 12 receptions
• 127 receiving yards
• 3 touchdownsBowers’s 43.3 PPR points in Week 9 were the most by any player this season
pic.twitter.com/Ad39FmIoTt— RotoBot AI (@rotobot_ai) November 6, 2025
Having Bowers on the field is crucial if the Raiders’ offense wants to have even a fraction of success this season. According to PFSN’s Tight End Impact metric, Bowers has an impact score of 87.7 in the five games he’s played this season, making him the second-most impactful tight end in the NFL.
Tre Tucker, WR
With the trade of Meyers, third-year wide receiver Tre Tucker now holds the No. 1 receiver role.
So far this season, Tucker has recorded 427 receiving yards on 32 receptions and four touchdown catches. In addition, his wide receiver impact score totals 80.1 for the season, which is higher than Meyers’ score of 73.2.
Sheesh Tre Tucker that man has a family! pic.twitter.com/1vRjvCNREo
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) October 9, 2025
Tucker’s best performance this season came in the team’s Week 3 loss to the Washington Commanders. In that game, Tucker caught eight passes for 145 yards and three touchdowns.
The 5’8″ receiver has yet to catch another touchdown since then, but with Meyers out of the picture, expect Tucker to receive more attention from Smith in the passing game. Tucker ranks 22nd in PFSN’s Wide Receiver Impact metric with a B- grade.
Tyler Lockett, WR
Tyler Lockett recently signed with the Raiders to be reunited with head coach Pete Carroll and Smith. The longtime Seattle Seahawk signed a one-year deal with the Tennessee Titans this past offseason but did not see much playing time.
In seven games, Lockett caught only 10 passes for 70 yards. He is expected to potentially be WR2, a role he could slide into immediately, given his chemistry with Smith from their five years together in Seattle.
In the three seasons when Smith was the starting quarterback, Lockett caught a combined 2,527 receiving yards on 212 receptions for 16 touchdowns.
Other notable options include tight end Michael Mayer, running back Ashton Jeanty, and rookie receiver Jack Bech. The new receiving room will be showcased tonight in the Raiders’ game against the Denver Broncos on Thursday Night Football.
