Who's No. 2? Boller, Edwards in a Battle

Experienced former NFL starters both have excellent outings in first exhibition and may make decision hard for head coach Hue Jackson.

Kyle Boller and Trent Edwards have been to there and back again.

Both played college football in the Bay Area, Boller at Cal and Edwards at Stanford.

Both have been NFL starting quarterbacks, Boller with the Ravens and Rams and Edwards with the Bills and Jaguars.

And now both have returned to their geographical roots with the Oakland Raiders, battling for the No. 2 job behind starter Jason Campbell.

Judging by their first performances, it may be a tough choice.

Thursday night, both played well in a 24-18 loss to Arizona, with the 27-year-old Edwards – signed in July to compete with Boller, 30 -- accounting for the team’s only touchdown with an 18-yard pass to rookie David Ausberry.

Raiders head coach Hue Jackson, in fact, was pleased with the play of all three of his quarterbacks.

“Kyle came in and he lit it up,” Jackson told reporters Saturday. “He was spectacular. That’s what I expect from him. Obviously Trent, who hadn’t been here very long, I was so impressed with him because here he is getting the information from me and trying to figure it out in his mind, and then going out and executing pretty flawlessly.”

After Campell completed six of nine passes for 66 yards, Boller completed seven of his eight throws for 42 yards and Edwards hit 10 of 19 for 140.

Jackson says he can see the Boller vs. Edwards competition continuing through the team’s final exhibition game Sept. 2 at Seattle.

“Both of those young men are very competitive and they want that opportunity,” Jackson told the San Francisco Chronicle. “It also makes it fun. Those guys go and every day they compete in the classroom and they compete on the field, and they’re very good friends.”

Contact Us