Raiders’ All-Time Roster, a position-by-position breakdown. Starters are in all-caps.

TIGHT END

DAVE CASPER
Raymond Chester
Todd Christensen

Wow, it gets hard to continue our tour through the all-time roster after the regular season begins. But we’ve got plenty of positions still to cover.

Tight end may be the easiest of all to sort out. You almost have to start Dave Casper, the do-everything Hall of Famer. And until Zach Miller develops to the point where he can compete for all-time honors, Ray Chester and Todd Christensen are no-brainers as the backups.

Very few tight ends have scored as high on both the hands scale and the blocking scale as the Ghost. He was rugged and dependable (and funny, but that doesn’t get you onto the all-time team; ask Frank Middleton), and he played during the Raiders’ heyday. What’s amazing is that he and Chester were together in Oakland for three seasons (1978-1980); that’s quite a one-two punch in two-tight-end sets.

Christensen was more one-dimensional, almost like a third wide receiver. But he started for six seasons and easily leads all Raiders tight ends in receptions (461) and yards (5,872), and has a more narrow lead over Chester and Casper in touchdown catches (41). It’s easy to forget how automatic Christensen was on those crossing routes, and how well he used to body to shield defenders.

The only other tight end even in the running was Billy Cannon – like Christensen, a converted halfback – who played in Oakland for six years (1964-69) and averaged a hefty 16.9 yards on 134 catches.