Is Raiders star Darren Waller the best player Jon Gruden has ever coached?
The Las Vegas Raiders secured a huge 33-27 home victory over the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night, and tight end Darren Waller was at the center of it.
Waller was targeted 19 times in the game, coming up big for the Raiders time after time to eclipse the 100-yard mark. He also scored a key touchdown late in the game.
And Waller's dominance on Monday night was just a continuation of his performances over the last two seasons, in which he compiled 197 catches for 2,341 yards and 12 touchdowns.
And if the sample size is narrowed down to his previous six games dating back to 2020, Waller has been one of the elite receiving threats in the NFL.
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Waller has already established himself as one of the NFL's premier tight ends along with San Francisco's George Kittle and Kansas City's Travis Kelce, but Jon Gruden thinks that might be underselling just how great he is.
The Raiders head coach, who has been a first-hand witness to Waller's greatness, expressed extremely high praise for his Pro Bowl tight end after their victory on Monday night.
Considering Gruden has coached some incredible players in his 14 years as a head coach, including Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice, this could be seen as a shocking statement.
Rice is an 11-time All-Pro selection and a 13-time Pro Bowler. He also happens to have more receptions for more yards and more touchdowns than any player in NFL history. So if anybody is taken aback by Gruden's comments, it is understandable.
But Rice was a receiver, not a tight end, and he wasn't in his prime when he played for Gruden.
If you limit the conversation to tight ends, Gruden might be onto something. Let's compare Waller's run through the 2019 and 2020 seasons to other two-year stretches by great tight ends.
Darren Waller
2019-2020: 197 receptions, 2,341 yards, 12 TDs
Antonio Gates
2004-2005: 170 receptions, 2,065 yards, 23 TDs
Tony Gonzalez
2007-2008: 195 receptions, 2,230 yards, 15 TDs
Shannon Sharpe
1996-1997: 152 receptions, 2,169 yards, 13 TDs
Rob Gronkowski
2014-2015: 154 receptions, 2,300 yards, 23 TDs
Travis Kelce
2019-2020: 202 receptions, 2,645 yards, 16 TDs
Sharpe and Gonzalez are already members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, with Gates, Gronkowski and Kelce all likely to be enshrined as well.
In a recent FOX Sports story about Waller's rise by Anna Katherine Clemmons, Gruden explained how Waller could be destined to follow in their footsteps.
"He is the best pick-up I have ever had," said Gruden. "Hands down, he's got gold jacket ability. There's no doubt about it."
Jon Gruden on the moment the Raiders signed Darren Waller ' 'Human: The Darren Waller Story'
Rice's career might be a hard one for Waller to reach, but if his play from the past two seasons and Monday night are any indication, he could one day find himself in the place they wear those gold jackets, the same place Rice is enshrined: Canton, Ohio.
And if that is the case, Gruden might be proven right after all.
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