TE Boss in Napa, prepares for first practice as Raider

Posted on August 6, 2011 by Steve Corkran

Recently acquired tight end Kevin Boss has arrived in Napa, and he is exptected to practice with the Raiders for the first time this afternoon.

Before that occurs, Boss is scheduled to hold a news conference on the practice field at 1:30 p.m., two hours before practice. We will file a report about what Boss has to say about signing a four-year, $16 million contract, how he envisions fitting in to Oakland’s offense and why he chose the Raiders.

Boss caught 119 passes for 1,600 yards and 18 touchdowns during his four NFL seasons, all with the New York Giants. The Raiders signed him to replace Zach Miller, who signed with the Seattle Seahawks last Tuesday.

Steve Corkran

Just Fire Baby

Why the hell do we need a press conference from this guy?

I mean, I love the pick-up, but give a couple of quotes to some scribes and leave the pressers for more pressing issues.
TerrapinRaider

By the 2nd preseason game (after the 2nd preseason game to be more precise). I think you just have to get at least 3 starters nailed down by then.

He already has a head start with Veldheer. So all I’m really saying is 2. You have to get these guys as many reps as possible togehter before the regular season starts. With a truncated offseason, the sooner the better. Its just not much time.
Just Fire Baby

I think you just have to get at least 3 starters nailed down by then.

*************************

I can agree with that.

You just got to think there will be a few jobs (everywhere, including O-line) that won’t be determined until probably they get announced before Denver.
Raider Al from Atlanta

That’s right, We don’t need a press conference. Wait until after a victory in the regular season. Now go sign Leonard Davis and build the Bully!!!!!
TerrapinRaider

* Bush in is good news. Hopefully its for more than 1yr.

* Wiz played LG in college and was considered Penn State’s best Olineman.

* Based on info I have read, Barksdale is better at run blocking while Barnes is better at pass blocking.

* Also based on info I have read the G position is the weakest position we have on the Oline – its a liability. (This of course is all pre-Bruce Campbell practicing).
oldschoolraider

So here’s Boss’s news conference in a nutshell…

He’s glad to be here.
He’s always wanted to be a Raider.
It’s an honor to play for such a great organization.
He’s prepared to do whatever he can to help the team win.
yadi,yadi,yada
Unless he can tell us how Ford is doing and what the hell is wrong with Bruce Campbell, I’ll skip the news conference.
Just Fire Baby

We got this Heyer kid, Bruce Campbell, and damn near grabbed Gaither.

All former tackles at the University of Maryland.

Are the Terps really manhandling the ACC at the tackle spot to warrant that?

Whoever is starting at tackle this year for the Terps, might as well throw him on the draft radar.
TerrapinRaider

I shoud change my moniker because I’m surely not paying as much attention as I used to. Just too far away now, busy, with a limited attn span.

I think you would find with many Maryland players is underdeveloped talent. Thats a knock on coaching as its just too many that have come in the league that way.

Gaither, Campbell, DHB, Merriman …all supremely gifted specimens that came into the league imo underdeveloped. Merriman just sped up his development with roids or whatever he was on.
ELWAYs TEETH

Old School, I think you nailed the press conference. Now we don’t have to waste time listening to it. Thanks.
TerrapinRaider

Well all players come into the league underdeveloped. What I’m trying to say is the degree these guys were behind the ball vs what their absolute beastality (sp?)of athletism would suggest is far greater than average.
J Hill

plataynegro ,

I have no problem with a vet at RG.

Nor do I have a problem with a vet being beat out at RG.

I’m thinking it may be Veldheer, Wiz, Satele, Shuenig, Barksdale.
J Hill

Why the hell do we need a press conference from this guy?

——————————————————

The guy is fron the NY, what do you expect?
Just Fire Baby

Veldheer, Wiz, Satele, Shuenig, Barksdale

************************

Wow, not a whole lot of NFL experience there to be starting a pivotal MNF road game week 1.

I like Smiley starting somewhere, and Barnes at RT, at least to get the wheels in motion to start the season.

I think we will see some of what we saw at the beginning of last year, with some split-times at spots,and final rotation not set until about the bye week.
TerrapinRaider

CORRECTION CORRECTION CORRECTION

My apologies but I mistyped. Wiz played RG in college not LG.
bcz24

What about Smiley? Shouldn’t he be starting at LG?
Just Fire Baby

The guy is fron the NY, what do you expect?

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LMAO….touche
YoungAmerican

Really tempted to get a #87 Boss jersey…
ELWAYs TEETH

There’s nothing better than being a Raider Fan in August. I agree with the concerns regarding the OL, but I’m equally concerned with our Defensive Backfield. Is Rouhtt going to step up and earn all that cash? Can the Chris Johnson from two years ago show up each week? Is Huff the guy we saw last year, and is he still improving? Mike Mitchell needs to prove he’s worthy of a second round pick. And I’m tired of hearing that Tyvon is pro bowl bound, I want to see it. We’ve drafted a lot of DBs in the last few years, Walter McFadden, Jerome Boyd, Stevie Brown. We need to be a lot better in the backfield.
bcz24

Damn, TheRaiderImage is selling Nnamdi and Gallery jerseys for $15.00
Just Fire Baby

According to his Penn State bio:

Freshman year- started 1 games at RG, and played some rotational stuff at both LG and RG

Soph year – started 11 games at RG, one at LG

Junior year – started at C all season

Senior year – started 12 games at RG
TerrapinRaider

YoungAmerican Says:
August 6th, 2011 at 10:34 am
Really tempted to get a #87 Boss jersey…

*****************

Dont do it cause I got a feeling your going to be looking at Ausberry in a year. You just cannot keep that talent at TE on the bench.
bcz24

The authentics are only $50… That shows you how much the mark up is on these things, I am sure they are still make 20-30 points on these at $50
Tricky70390

Veldheer, Wiz, Satele, Shuenig, Barksdale.

This is what I was thinking. It’s the only lineup that makes sense at this point.

Dan Loper and Cooper Carlisle need to GTFO.
Lynn from Snot

For those who haven’t heard………http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWshbNTYVqg
Lynn from Snot

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWshbNTYVqg
Plunketthead

Poor little Tigger.
He is a better golfer when he is drinking, drugging and screwing anything that walks.

He cant sink two foot putts.
TerrapinRaider

“Senior year – started 12 games at RG”

Of course his senior year is what I am talking about 🙂

I knew he played center before then, but I did not know he played a game at LG – must have been due to injury or something on the team.
Just Fire Baby

Tiger is 19th place….amongst Americans!!!

I will give him one more Masters, and that’s it.

Not playing against the same dudes today as he was a few years back.

Guys back in the day were more scared to see Tiger in their grouping than white folks at a Milwaukee state fair.
YoungAmerican

Dont do it cause I got a feeling your going to be looking at Ausberry in a year. You just cannot keep that talent at TE on the bench.

—————–

’87 is my birth year. So it would just be sweet to have that with “BOSS” on the back.

I have a feeling both guys are going to see a lot of action on the field in the coming years. Especially if Al Saunders sticks around – Saunders loves those two TE sets.
TerrapinRaider

I’m curious. What is the NY sterotype?
SilverNutSack

Have Bush play this year out under this contract… should keep him hungrier and he needs to be hungry as he isn’t the most motivated guy in the world when it comes to conditioning… we can always tag him next year if he breaks out in a big way…. plus, we can have time to get a good look at Taiwan and decide if he is the better option for the number 2… imagine if we paid Bush a bunch, only to have Taiwan break out as a dynamic playmaker. This way covers our arses more.
bcz24

Theres a lot of stereotypes around NYers… most often is that we are loud and obnoxious, which is also, more often then not, true
bcz24

ClaytonESPN John Clayton
Miami worked out QB Troy Smith before signing Kevin O’Connell.
59 minutes ago
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Wonder what Mistic thinks about his boy not even being able to beat out Kevin O’Connell (who?) for a roster spot.
Zymurge

Dusting off an older thread because a) it’s about the subject of this blog post, and b) I slept in:

TheLastWarrior Says:
August 6th, 2011 at 8:29 am

This was my concern with Boss. He is a better blocker than Miller which should help the running game; However it is the 60 receptions we need to address. A lot of people are saying that the RB’s and Wr’s will pick up the slack…not so sure as the TE receives a lot of the passes as a safety valve when others aren’t open or Campbell is pressured. Hopefully Boss or Ausberry can fill that void…

—–—

The thing to keep in perspective is that the Raiders really haven’t had a take charge WR in the last few seasons. Miller has been used a lot more as a primary target than a safety valve. In other words, over the last few years I saw more of the FB or 2nd TE being used for dump offs, with Zach running deeper seam routes to take advantage of him being the best pure WR on team.

Moving forward into the Boss era, it’s less about saying WRs need to pick up the slack as it is about WRs simply starting to play like and be used like WRs. And that’s starting to sound realistic if Schilens makes it out of preseason intact, giving them him, Murphy and maybe D Moore in more of a primary target way. Secondary targets can then be a combo of DHB and Ford on stretch plays, and then mix in the occassional surprise wheel route to Reece and TE seam patterns to split the two deep zones.
Just Fire Baby

Wonder what Mistic thinks about his boy not even being able to beat out Kevin O’Connell (who?) for a roster spot.

***********************

The guy went on and on for about 2 weeks last year, about a 49ER QB, about how great Troy was, and how he told us all and how right he was.

When I asked him about a few weeks ago, he denied it. I pulled up the link, and he ran away from it, lol.
SilverNutSack

not to mention DMC’s role on the passing game…
SilverNutSack

he is the true safety valve
raiderzmaverick

Stanford Routt is now the NFL’s third highest paid cornerback. 5 year 54 Million dollar contract (that was what he was restructuring).

Can anyone tell me why we’re paying Routt but wouldn’t pay Nnamdi virtually the same thing?
raiderzmaverick

All I see in Routt is someone who is getting burned more often than not. I hear his name brought up 3x more often than any other CB.
SilverNutSack

raiderzmaverick Says:
August 6th, 2011 at 11:18 am

Stanford Routt is now the NFL’s third highest paid cornerback. 5 year 54 Million dollar contract (that was what he was restructuring).

Can anyone tell me why we’re paying Routt but wouldn’t pay Nnamdi virtually the same thing?

_________________________

All I can think is there must have been some stuff behind the scenes that we don’t know about.
SilverNutSack

But as if he wouldn’t have signed 5 years at 40 million or even 35…. I feel like it does done almost to make an example.. oh well, who am I to question Mr. Davis…
raiderzmaverick

For some reason Mr. Davis just gave up on signing Nnamdi (probably thinking he’d have to pay 17 million). But instead of negotiating and getting the price reasonable he just overpaid (BY FAR) for an average corner who probably isn’t even as good as CJ (who’s getting paid 4.5 mil per year).
RaiderDuck

Raiderzmaverick Says:
August 6th, 2011 at 11:18 am
Stanford Routt is now the NFL’s third highest paid cornerback. 5 year 54 Million dollar contract (that was what he was restructuring).

Can anyone tell me why we’re paying Routt but wouldn’t pay Nnamdi virtually the same thing?

========================================

Argh! OK, For NINETY-NINTH TIME ALREADY: Nnamdi wanted to move on. He wasn’t coming back to Oakland FOR ANY PRICE.
Raiders for life

I wonder if Routt has an incentive clause in his contract? Anyways, I’m more concerned with the QB situation. I’m just not sold on any of them.
exlaraiderseasonticketholder

Some people want to ignore the facts just to be able to dump on AD who did a great job this offseason despite Nnamdi wanting to move on and Miller wanting to be paid more than he is worth. We have a developing powerhouse and it is because of, not in spite of AD. We will see and compare at the end of the season.
SilverNutSack

routt’s original 3 year deal guaranteed 20 mil… hopefully the 5 year deal keeps the guaranteed at a similar point..
Plunketthead

Guys back in the day were more scared to see Tiger in their grouping than white folks at a Milwaukee state fair.

hehehehehe the Brewers need to pack like Arizonans.
Everyone and their mom is packing. Some open, some concealed and everyone else has arms in their vehicle.

Its a trip to be in line at the bank and the dude next to you has a six shooter strapped to his hip.
SilverNutSack

exlaraiderseasonticketholder Says:
August 6th, 2011 at 11:42 am

Some people want to ignore the facts just to be able to dump on AD who did a great job this offseason despite Nnamdi wanting to move on and Miller wanting to be paid more than he is worth. We have a developing powerhouse and it is because of, not in spite of AD. We will see and compare at the end of the season.

________________________________

I feel you.
Zymurge

I know we all love the fleet of young, up and coming WRs on the squad. At the same time, there were a lot of cries to go get a true stud #1 WR off the market. Well, cap reasons and other priorities have made that difficult.

With Miller, as the best possession target in years past, gone, we’re looking for an improved possession game from Schillens and Murphy. However, if a reasonably priced veteran possession type WR were still on the market, it’s worth discussing.

Enter Jericho Cotchery. Recently made expendable from the Jets after locking in Holmes to a big money deal adn bringing back Plaxico for their #2 guy. I’ve followed Cotch for several years, as a depth player on my keeper fantasy team. In my mind, he’s a perfect fit for the Raiders offense. Aside from being a solid possession type that can also get deep, he’s a very good blocking WR, that has been one of the reasons that the Jets running game has been so strong. While he’s a a couple years removed from his 70-80+ catch seasons, he’s still good for 45-50 this season. Even in his reduced role last year, as the third WR in a run happy offense, he caught as many as the Raiders top WR (tied Murphy for 41 catches).

To me it comes down to whether he’s better than either Murphy or Schilens, since there’s only room for so many on the roster. Figure DHB and Ford now have automatic roster spots. If the team carries 5 WRs, then the wildcard would be D Moore and his camp super star show.

Assuming Cotch could be had for cheap, would you opt to have him over Schilens or Murphy, or all three with Moore on the practice squad? Discuss.
mcskinnnylegs

hey guys wasssup i was wondering if any 1 knew a website where i can listen to raiders talk radio