Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008

Catches aren't all Raiders TE Miller is about

NAPA -- If JaMarcus Russell was the crown jewel of the Oakland Raiders' 2007 draft, then tight end Zach Miller was their diamond in the rough.

The second-round pick out of Arizona State not only proved to be a steady downfield threat, setting a franchise record for rookie tight ends, but Miller also developed into Oakland's best blocking tight end.

That he didn't put up better numbers was a result of the Raiders needing to capitalize on his blocking, a predicament Miller finds himself in once again as Oakland transitions to the Russell era.

"I take it as whatever is going to help the team," Miller said. "Obviously as an offense we need to put more points on the board than we did last year, but teams are going to blitz us.

"There's always a tendency to blitz young quarterbacks."

Miller caught 44 passes for 444 yards and three touchdowns in 2007, tops among all NFL rookie tight ends including Greg Olson, the first-round pick (31st overall) of the Chicago Bears who had 39 receptions, 391 yards and two TDs.

Yet coach Lane Kiffin believes Miller could have been an even bigger factor in Oakland's passing game had he not been needed to help block.

"If we had been a different team last year with the ability to pass protect better I think he would have had 60, 65 catches," Kiffin said. "But we kept him in so many times in pass protection to help protect with our tackles that he wasn't able to get out as much as we'd like him to."

Oakland's offensive line surrendered 41 sacks last season while quarterbacks Josh McCown and Daunte Culpepper combined for 20 fumbles. Several of the fumbles came after the quarterbacks were hit in the backfield by defensive players who easily broke through the Raiders' pass protection.

The team tried to upgrade in the offseason, adding left tackle Kwame Harris and re-signing right tackle Cornell Green. Jake Grove, who missed half of last season with a knee injury, replaces Jeremy Newberry at center.

So far, though, the new combination of offensive linemen hasn't made much of a difference in the pass protection. Russell has been pressured heavily by Oakland's defense throughout training camp and spent a good portion of his brief appearance against San Francisco last week on the run.

Miller also played sparingly and did not catch a pass, instead spending much of his night blocking.

"I take great pride in my blocking," Miller said. "I'm a lot better than last year. In college you don't play against that type of talent every day. Here you're against guys like (two-time Pro Bowl defensive end) Derrick Burgess all the time."