How wide receiver group develops and improves over the course of this season and beyond is key to Raiders offense
If you shuddered at the notion of another Chicago Bears assistant coach joining the Las Vegas Raiders’ ranks, I don’t blame you.
The most recent Bear-to-Raider coaching conversion didn’t pan out too well as Luke Getsy’s duties as the Silver & Black’s offensive coordinator lasted all of nine games in 2024 as the team face planted and dragged itself to a 2-7 record before the bye week. With Getsy at the helm, the Raiders offense scored 168 total points for an average of 18.6 points per game. After he was axed, Las Vegas churned out 141 total points in the remaining eight games for an average of 17.6 points per contest.
Yuck.
Getsy, Chicago’s and Las Vegas’ former play caller, is now in his third stint with the Green Bay Packers as a senior offensive assistant.
The latest former Bear turned Raider is wide receivers coach Chris Beatty.
Orlando Ramirez-Imagn Images
His time in the Windy City didn’t overlap with Getsy — Beatty was hired by the Bears as wide receivers boss for the 2024 season — but like the latter, the former was play caller when Chicago canned head coach Matt Eberflus. Beatty became the interim offensive coordinator under interim head coach Thomas Brown (now the passing game coordinator and tight end coach for new New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel).
The Beatty-orchestrated Bears offense scored 69 total points in five games he called plays for an average of 13.8 points per contest.
In Las Vegas, Beatty won’t be calling plays, however.
That job is in offensive coordinator Chip Kelly’s capable hands. But the wide receiver coach will nonetheless play an instrumental role for Kelly and head coach Pete Carroll.
The new regime of general manager John Spytek and Carroll invested a trio of picks in the 2025 NFL Draft at the wide receiver position: Jack Bech (second round, 58th overall), Dont’e Thornton (fourth round, 108th overall), and Tommy Mellot (sixth round, 213th overall). Thus, it’s a relatively young room that needs development and guidance as Jakobi Meyers is the top option in the room coming off an 87-catch, 1,027-yard, four-touchdown 2024 season.
#Raiders WR coach Chris Beatty on rookie Dont’e Thornton: “There’s a lot of things he wants to work on, as far as polishing his route running releases. For a taller guy, we gotta work on understanding the whole scheme, so everything slows down for him. He’s done a great job so…
— Ryan McFadden (@ryanmcfadden_) May 28, 2025
At age 28, Meyers is the second oldest but most experienced NFL wide receiver on the Las Vegas’ roster. Journeyman and practice squad yo-yo Alex Bachman is the oldest wideout at 29 years old, but he’s only accrued two full NFL seasons, in comparison.
“Everything excites me about him. I’ve been watching him from afar for a while,” Beatty said when asked what excites him about working with Meyers during a Q&A on the Raiders website. “All the coaches in this league know who the best players are, who the really good players are. Whether they get the accolades that they should get or not, we all kind of know who’s underrated. He’s one of those guys that is a technician. I’ve been watching him not only being in the division but previous to that. You watch him in New England doing a lot of great things. So, I’m really excited about working with him and then getting to know him, I like him even more.”
Beatty’s ability to coach, develop, and teach the wide receivers looms large if Kelly and the Raiders are intent on having a balanced, efficient, and explosive offense in 2025 and beyond. Meyers is set to be the top wide receiving option for Kelly and new quarterback Geno Smith and the how the rookies along with third-year wide receiver Tre Tucker progresses is mission critical.
Fortunately for Las Vegas, Beatty has coached productive receivers as his stops in Los Angeles and Chicago. The Raiders also have tight end Brock Bowers who is the No. 1 receiving option heading into his second year in the league. “TE” designates Bowers’ position group, however, he runs routes, has hands, and speed of a big wide receiver.
“I appreciate Keenan more than I can really express because he’s allowed me to coach him. I think there’s a lot of stars in this league that don’t want to be coached.”
Chris Beatty has high praise for Keenan Allen. pic.twitter.com/0Quc2q3aw1
— Marquee Bears (@BearsMarquee) January 2, 2025
But going back to true wide receivers, how Beatty goes about refining the route running and savvy of Thornton, Mellot, and Tucker is of utmost importance. Along with longshot youngster Shedrick Jackson, that group represents the fastest players at the position group. Fear-instilling speed was noticeably absent in the Raiders wide receiver room last year and Thornton (4.30-flat 40-yard dash time), Mellot (4.39), Tucker (4.37) and Jackson (4.25) are the best options in terms of pure speed.
Thornton is an intriguing rookie as he stands a freakish 6-foot-5 and 205 pounds and has the long strides to dust defenders easily with his fleet feet.
That all said, how Bech grows with Beatty’s tutelage is also important. The TCU product profiles very similarly to Meyers but is much more physical at 6-foot-1 and 214 pounds. He’s a possession-type receiver who gains separation with efficient route running and physicality and can be a volume target and chain mover for Smith and the Raiders offense.
With Meyers on the final season of a three-year, $33 million deal he inked with Las Vegas, the Silver & Black have an in-house replacement — if Bech can develop and progress at the NFL level.