Oakland Raiders: Is Brandon Myers on the Hot Seat?

Luis Reyes – Jun 14, 2012

As training camp opens, the most heated and most followed position battle of the Oakland Raiders is the Tight End position. After the Raiders cut Kevin Boss it opened an all out war between the active Tight Ends on the team.

The interesting thing about this position battle is that these Tight Ends are not only battling their teammates for a position, but they are also battling every single Tight End on the free agent market. We have seen recently Reggie McKenzie and Dennis Allen don’t mind signing free agent Tight Ends from the market to bring in competition.

So with Boss gone, technically the next man up would be former Iowa Hawkeye, Brandon Myers. He has been the second string Tight End all of his career for the Raiders and is the most experienced one on the roster, so it looks like it will finally be his chance to be the top Tight end on the team.

Or will he?

With the talent on the Raiders roster, nothing is set in stone for Brandon Myers. If he wants to be the number one, he will have to work harder than he ever has. The other Tight Ends currently on the team are David Ausberry, Richard Gordon, Kyle Efaw and now recently signed Tory Humphrey.

The interesting thing about this group is that they each have a specific skill set that can play to their advantage during this heated competition.

As per news coming from Training Camp, David Ausberry seems to be shining the most with his pass catching abilities. Richard Gordon has also shown great improvement, especially with his receiving skills which is where he was lacking and Kyle Efaw is also turning some heads but is still not over shadowing his peers.

Brandon Myers has a lot to build on from last season. He showed some great abilities when filling in for Boss, he made some pretty awesome catches, he is an excellent run and pass blocker, and where he probably makes the biggest difference is his contribution on special teams.

It’s this writer’s opinion that Myers has the best chance to be atop of the depth chart by Week 1, but with the rising stars on the Silver and Black he better not slow down for a second or they might just catch up, especially the now bulkier David Ausberry and the big blocker Richard Gordon.

Thanks to his blocking abilities, Myers will always find time on the field, but unless he maintains a steady improvement he might not see his number called as much as we would all expect or as much as he'd like.

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