When Zach Miller took the money and ran to Seattle, a panic swept through Raider Nation. The Pro Bowler was a sure bet to return, but a last-minute push by Pete Carroll, Tom Cable, and the Seahawks – not to mention a good chunk of change – sent the talented tight end north. Fear not, Oakland fans, the cavalry has arrived in Kevin Boss.
Miller’s departure briefly left a gaping hole at the tight end position for the Raiders. Not only would they have missed his 60 receptions, good for 8th in the league last season, but Miller was a good blocker for them both in pass protection (+4.8 rating) and the running game (+2.1). Boss is not as good of a blocker as Miller, but he reprises Miller’s role as a good pass-catching threat in that offense.
One of the benefits Miller enjoyed being in that Raiders offense was his high target count. The combination of sub-par wide receiver play and the quarterbacks’ propensity to throw to the tight end netted Miller 89 targets last season, also good for 8th among tight ends, and a number likely to decrease in Seattle. Boss, in contrast, was targeted just 66 times. While Boss’ catch rate was abysmal (53%), his YPR (15.2), TD rate (14%) and YAC per reception (6.9) were excellent at the position. To put Boss’ numbers in perspective, if he had gotten Miller’s 89 targets last year he would have caught about 47 passes for 717 yards and 7 TDs.
Fantasy Spin:
Those numbers would have placed him as the #10 fantasy TE last year, just ahead of none other than Zach Miller. Should we expect such a season from Boss? I would hesitate to put him in the top 10, but his fantasy stock has certainly spiked. I might consider Boss ahead of Miller at this point, however, and this move makes him a borderline TE1 and an outstanding TE2. If you wait on the tight end position, gambling on a combination of Kevin Boss and, say, Greg Olsen could pay off.
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