Some quick hits from Wednesday's minicamp practice, the 2nd of 3:

-There was a rookie that played on the first team offense in the stead of Denarius Moore, who injured his hamstring at Tuesday's practice.  The surprise was that the rookie that was elevated to first team wasn't OTA and minicamp standout Juron Criner, a 5th round draft pick, but rather UDFA WR Rod Streater.

Streater has also had a fine offseason but hasn't made the same amount of amazing plays that Criner has.  Still, coach Allen felt that he had earned the right to replace Moore.  "He's earned the right to get the reps," Allen said. "He's done a nice job. He's a young guy. He's continuing to improve but he's obviously caught our eye enough to think he's earned the right to get a couple of first-team reps."

Criner's offseason wasn't forgotten, either, as he ran with 2nd team.   Based on the offseason the two are having it's entirely possible that one of them will work their way into the starting lineup at some point in the season as injuries inevitably start to mount.

The Raiders have started a rookie sensation at Wide Receiver mid season the past three seasons with Louis Murphy and Darrius Heyward-Bey getting time in 2009, Jacoby Ford in 2010 and Moore in 2011 all stepping in.

While it's still early in the offseason, it seems a safe bet that Streater will make the final squad as one of the top 5 or 6 wide receivers.  Allen was effusive in his praise, saying, "He's caught the ball extremely well, he's run very good routes, he knows how to get open and he has been explosive as a receiver."

The Raiders 2012 offseason took another step forward today with the first day of a 3 day minicamp running through Thursday.  As always, TFDS will attempt to sift through all of the information that comes from the camp and use it to predict what it means for 2012 and beyond.

First, much may be made about the fact that the Raiders had 100% participation.  I in no way wish to take away from that but it's not such an amazing feat given that it was a mandatory camp and there are no big contract disputes that would cause any players to stay away from camp.  In fact, in minicamps around the league this week, participation will be close to 100% except for the odd player - like Maurice Jones-Drew with the Jaguars - who is attempting to put pressure on the team by staying away.

The biggest news of the day occured fairly early on in camp.  Denarius Moore made a cut on a route and fell to the ground in pain.  A trainer came and helped him off the field and he eventually went back into the clubhouse.  It looked like it was likely a tweaked hamstring of some unknown severity.

Coach Allen didn't think that it would be too much of an issue - "He's going to be fine," Allen said. "We'll evaluate it. Usually those things take a couple of weeks or so, so we'll see where he's at." - however, an injury to Moore isn't good.  Plus, it was a hamstring injury that kept him sidelined for part of last season.

The good news?  Moore can be shut down now, heal, and be ready to go in 6 weeks for the Raiders minicamp at the end of July.

In the meantime, all is not doom and gloom for the wide receiver corps.  Rookies Juron Criner and Rod Streater continue to stand out from the crowd at the position.

Amid the drafted and undrafted rookies that participated in the May minicamp held by the Raiders, a number of more veteran players were also given a chance to tryout.  One of those tryout players was Kevin Haslam – a 6'5" 304 lb offensive lineman out of Rutgers.

Haslam showed enough in the minicamp that the Raiders signed him to the roster and he has been with the team in OTAs, making a push to make the final squad.

Haslam was an undrafted free agent in 2010 and was signed to the Jaguars in camp and made the final squad as an UDFA which speaks to his skill and drive.

He suffered a hand injury in 2010 and then a torn MCL in 2011 ending on IR both seasons.  He was released by the Jaguars in March of 2012.

Haslam is athletic enough to play in the zone blocking scheme that the Raiders are re-installing this year.  He can play both tackle and guard and has good size.

He was kind enough to answer some questions to let Raider Nation get to know him a little better.

He's active on Twitter and you can follow him @KHaslam72

Questions

Q: What is your home town/state?
Haslam: Mahwah, NJ

Media were allowed into view a Raiders OTA again this week and, after some time to digest the story-lines and sift through all of the information, TFDS will attempt to pull out the pieces that are likely to affect the team.

As with most sessions this time of year, we must take much of the camp with a grain of salt.  Again, the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) strictly prohibits contact between the players in Organized Team Activities (OTAs) so we are almost completely unable to make determinations on the defense.

OTAs also don't allow any pads and so it's also difficult to judge the offense.  What is judged is movement, change of direction, explosiveness and, with receivers, ability to make receptions at all points on the fields and how well they can use their hands, catch away from their bodies and get vertical for a reception.

The Raiders addressed a major need with the 129th pick in the 4th round of the 2012 Draft when they took Miles Burris out of San Diego State.

Burris, a redshirt senior, was extremely durable in his four years playing at San Diego State as he was in 12 or 13 games each of 4 season.

He had more than 75 tackles in both his junior and senior season and those two seasons combined also yielded 17.5 sacks and 2 forced fumbles.

Burris earned acolades for more than his on-field achievements, too, being named a Mid West Conference all-academic honoree multiple times.

Burris will start his Raiders career at OLB, per head coach Dennis Allen, but has the versatility to be able to play both outside and inside.

Burris was kind enough to take some time and answer questions for TFDS.  You can follow him on Twitter @MilesBurris

Questions:

Q: What is your home town/state?
Burris: Granite Bay, CA

Q: Did you root for a particular NFL team growing up? Who? Why?
Burris: Of the Bay Area teams I followed the raiders an went to quite a few games growing up, always loved watching them play. I also followed the Tennessee Titans because I was a big Steve McNair fan.

Raiders restricted free agent Marcel Reece signed his exclusive rights tender yesterday and will be practicing with the team beginning today, the team announced yesterday.

Reece had little leverage and a hold out seemed very unlikely as no team had made him an offer and his choice was to either sign his tender or hold out for the season.

There are rumblings that the Raiders and Reece's agent have been working on a long-term deal but while the details are still being worked out it was important for Reece to get into OTAs and begin to learn the playbook and the nuances of the Fullback position under Greg Knapp.

With their sixth round, 189th pick overall, of the 2012 draft, the Raiders tabbed DT Christo Bilukidi from Georgia State to join their roster.  Bilukidi became the first player ever selected from the school, which is in the Football Championship Subdvision (FCS, formerly Division 1-AA).

Bilukidi played in basketball in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and has only somewhat recently become a football player as a Senior in High School.

Bilukidi played for Eastern Arizona Junior College in 2009 where he was listed as playing DE.  He played in 10 games and ended with 24 total tackles, 5 for loss and 4 sacks that season.

He transitioned to Georgia State in 2010 and 2011 where he was their top defensive lineman with 10 career sacks – the school's record – and 16 career tackles for loss over the two seasons.  He achieved 5 sacks both years playing for Georgia State. 

He lined up at DT, mostly, but also was able to slide over to play DE at need.

Bilukidi has recently joined Twitter and you can follow him, there @montechristo96

Interview:

Q: What is your home city/country?

Bilukidi: Ottawa, Canada