Why Oakland Raiders Should Expand TE Clive Walford's Role on Offense

The Oakland Raiders can upgrade their passing and ground attack by expanding tight end Clive Walford’s role on offense.

Through five weeks, the Raiders have been selective with utilizing their third-round pick. Head coach Jack Del Rio should ramp up Walford’s snap count after he exhibited decent run-blocking skills and the ability to catch the deep ball in Week 5.

Walford’s rookie campaign started off slowly due to an injury during training camp. According to Pro Football Focus, he played 22 snaps in the first preseason game and sat out for the remainder of the exhibition.

According to San Francisco Chronicle writer Vic Tafur, Walford made strides on the practice field prior to the Raiders' Week 3 matchup against the Cleveland Browns:

Nonetheless, the Raiders remained conservative with Walford’s snaps.

Run Blocking

In Week 5, the rookie tight end took the field for 26 snaps, the most he’s played all season in a single game, narrowly exceeding tight end Mychal Rivera’s 24 snaps. In a small sample, Walford showed capability in sealing off the edge for ball-carriers:

Player	Snaps	Run Blocking
Lee Smith	38	-0.9
Clive Walford	26	0.4
Mychal Rivera	24	0.0

He outperformed the other two tight ends in run blocking by a significant margin. In limited duty, the rookie tight end has set the edge for the backfield as a solid pillar on the outside.

Player	Snaps	Run-Blocking Grade
Lee Smith	186	-4.0
Mychal Rivera	165	-3.4
Clive Walford	106	0.3

According to Football Outsiders, Oakland only runs 13 percent of its carries toward the edges. Running back Latavius Murray has the speed to bounce routes outside, but clearly, the Raiders don’t trust the bookend blockers to hold contain. 

Left End	Left Tackle	Mid Guard	Right Tackle	Right End
7%	8%	71%	8%	6%

Walford’s ability to hold blocks can help Murray find space on the outside and add variety to offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave’s designed rushing attack.

Red-Zone Threat

Despite not having a go-to finisher near the goal line, Oakland has a 64.29 percent touchdown percentage in the red zone. Quarterback Derek Carr has done a good job finding an array of receivers in cramped spaces. Musgrave has made good use of H-back Marcel Reece and running back Roy Helu as receivers inside the 20-yard line.

Walford broke out in his senior year at Miami as a prominent receiving target with seven touchdowns. At 6’4”, 258 pounds, he poses as a mismatch all over the field, especially in the red zone. Carr connected with the rookie tight end for 33 yards against the Denver Broncos to position the Raiders deep in Denver’s territory.

Inexplicably, Walford faded back into the shadows without getting his hands on another catch for the remainder of the game as noted by SB Report's Twitter handle. 

It’s time to feature Walford in some packages to exploit linebackers in coverage, overpower smaller safeties and potentially encourage more outside runs.

Bye Week Bringing Change?

On Wednesday, head coach Jack Del Rio alluded to the possibility of utilizing the rookie tight end and capitalizing on his skill sets.

As previously noted, a whopping 71 percent of Murray’s runs are directed between the guards. The ability to attack the edges keeps opposing defenses guessing on first-down rush attempts.

Murray’s speed projects as one of his best attributes as a threat to break out into the open field on any given carry. The Raiders' predictable rushing attack between the guards has turned him into a bruiser while also taking nearly 75 percent of the carries.

Oakland will make a concerted effort to boost the running game coming out of the bye week. That effort should start with Walford sealing the edge and Murray bouncing some carries toward the perimeter.

Tight end Lee Smith will likely continue to see extended snaps as an extra pass-blocker, but Rivera hasn’t shown enough on the field to keep Walford on the sidelines. 

After five weeks of play and a bye week, Walford seems poised to put his injury and a slow start behind him for a solid finish. 

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All statistics are provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com and Pro Football Focus unless otherwise noted.

Week 5 statistics and play-by-play analysis provided by NFL.com.