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| Raiders tight end Brandon Myers has caught all 11 passes thrown to him by Carson Palmer this season. (US Presswire) |
Brandon Myers may not be a perfect tight end -- who is? -- but he’s perfect in one statistical category.
Oakland Raiders quarterback Carson Palmer has targeted Myers 11 times this season, and he has caught 11 passes.
“I expect to catch everything,” Myers said.
When the Raiders drafted Myers in the sixth round out of Iowa in 2009, then coach Tom Cable envisioned him as a blocking tight end he could pair with Zach Miller. Miller signed with Seattle last year as a free agent, and his replacement, Kevin Boss, was released in March.
Myers wound up winning a three-way race for the starting job this year with David Ausberry and Richard Gordon because of his combination of blocking and receiving skills.
Among NFL tight ends, Myers ranks sixth in the NFL. He has already matched his career single-season high in receiving yards with 151.
“He’s caught a bunch of balls,” Palmer said. “There’s a lot of balls to be caught by that position in this offense. And he and I had some good chemistry last year in some similar situations but obviously a different offense. But there’s a lot of balls to be had at that spot, and he’s done a great job taking advantage of those opportunities, and it’s been good to see him really develop in there.”
Myers said he’s encouraged by the fact that he and Palmer are in synch.
“We’d like to be on the other end of the win-loss total, but, yeah, he’s finding me in holes and doing a good job of putting the ball on me. That’s what he does best,” Myers said.
Myers said Greg Knapp’s offense is tight end friendly but provides “a lot of opportunity for everyone” to make plays and contribute.
“It’s just a matter of us staying on track, not being in third-and-long, where we can dial up some of those plays,” he said.
Follow Raiders reporter Eric Gilmore on Twitter @CBSRaiders.
