Las Vegas Raiders

Raiders' Mychal Rivera is the frontrunner at tight end again

Published Aug. 5, 2015 12:01 a.m. ET

foxsports

Mychal Rivera must be used to winning summer position battles by now.

He's fought off Nick Kasa and David Ausberry in back-to-back camp competitions. And third-round pick Clive Walford can't supplant Rivera until he deals with an undisclosed injury first.

That's fine with Rivera. He's more than happy to shoulder the load again at his spot.

"I always want to win the competition," Rivera told Silver & Black Pride. "If there's a race, you wanna get in first. That's it."

It won't be so clear-cut if Walford returns. Together with blocking tight end Lee Smith, the Raiders might want to use a rotational approach.

Rivera's job this summer is simple -- catch everything thrown his way and make it tough for his new coaches to pull him off the field. So far, he's winning at that too.

"He's an athletic guy," said head coach Jack Del Rio. "I think he showed some of that athleticism here early in this camp with a couple of nice catches. We like the way he's worked throughout the offseason."

(h/t Silver & Black Pride)