Jason Witten could play bigger role than mentor with Raiders

Jason Witten to the Raiders is like Las Vegas posting double-digit temperatures in July.

There’s no downside to it.

Leadership has been a popular theme for what the tight end can offer most after signing a one-year deal. How to appear a pro, act a pro, be a pro.

But while his NFL resume should conclude with a gold Hall of Fame jacket in his first year of eligibility, I’m not certain Witten’s greatest contribution solely will be offering advice to teammates. I actually think he can help the Raiders win games. Or at least score more points.

Sure. Witten isn’t the same player as, say, seven years ago. He’s not going to be in the stratosphere as 110 catches for 1,039 yards. He’s likely not even going to be in the area code as 63 receptions for 520 yards last year, his 16th and final season with the Cowboys since they drafted him in 2003.

None of which matters if he proves valuable in a part of the field that needs improvement most.

The Raiders. The red zone. A bad fit lately. Las Vegas ranked 22nd in the league last season when converting inside the 20-yard line with touchdowns. They were also 22nd the previous season.

It shouldn’t sit well with third-year coach Jon Gruden, especially when you consider the team averaged a top-10 red zone-to-touchdown conversion rate over the previous four years before he returned and began calling plays. So he also needs to be much better.

Making a difference

This is a big deal. The Raiders were actually efficient between the 20s last season. They also averaged just 19.5 points. Couldn’t finish what they started.

Witten can help. Maybe that doesn’t even include a high rate of receptions. He’s 38. He also has more receiving yards (12,977) for any tight end in NFL history not named Tony Gonzalez. Jerry Rice, Gonzalez and Larry Fitzgerald. They’re the only ones with more catches than the 1,215 of Witten. Yeah. Good company.

Witten still has to be honored inside the 20, where Dallas scored touchdowns 43 percent of the time last season when he had at least one touch. He still has to be considered a more-than-plausible option. Still can be a decoy for others. Still can block the you-know-what out of someone at the goal line.

“I think (a role) will evolve as we unfold,” Witten said. “I’m just really excited for the opportunity knowing that it’s probably going to be different from what I’ve experienced throughout my career.”

The mentor part for Witten should be easy. Darren Waller might not exist within the same elite region as Travis Kelce and George Kittle and Zach Ertz as the league’s best tight ends, but it’s not as though the Raiders’ second-year starter is so far removed that he can’t see them.

With several promising rookie additions on offense to draw interest, Waller could equal or perhaps even improve on his 2019 season of 90 catches for 1,145 yards. And there is never anything wrong with learning about supreme toughness from someone who defines it.

Witten has started 16 games in 12 of his 16 seasons. He has played with a broken jaw, sprained ankles and ligaments, all kinds of injuries. He even played through a lacerated spleen, of which just the thought puts me into a coma.

“Just the preparation and the way (Witten) goes about (things),” Raiders offensive coordinator Greg Olson said. “The speed, the tempo at which he breaks the huddle and gets to the line of scrimmage or goes in motion or shifts. Very detailed in his movements … He’s just been a true professional since he’s been here and we’ve had a chance to be with him.”

A new beginning

It was May 2018 when Witten walked away from the Cowboys, retired from football and became an ESPN analyst for “Monday Night Football.” It was less than a year later when he returned to the field. The fire, however small, still burned.

A year later, the Cowboys hired a new coach in Mike McCarthy and the end came in Dallas for one of the greatest players to wear the star.

“I’m invigorated by this challenge and where I’m at in my career,” Witten said. “Like I said, it made a lot of sense. I didn’t really overthink it. I’ll challenge myself to play at a high level even where my age is.”

High level doesn’t necessarily mean a high rate of production.

But it sure could be inside the 20.

Ed Graney is a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing and can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on Twitter.