The Oakland Raiders were one of the most inconsistent teams in the NFL last season and after shedding some bad contracts and adding a number of free agents, general manager Reggie McKenzie and head coach Dennis Allen are looking for improvements for the 2013 season as training camp is here.
The team brought in a new quarterback in Matt Flynn with a trade from Seattle and while he hasn't had the chance to start yet in the league apart from a couple games with Green Bay, Allen likely will give him the inside track when training camp begins because of the deal. Some have written in the media that rookie Tyler Wilson may have a chance to beat out Flynn for the starting job, but after OTA workouts, local writers had praise for undrafted rookie Matt McGloin, who was signed out of Penn State after having interest from the Carolina Panthers and other teams.
Allen and the coaching staff also like Terrelle Pryor, but after OTAs, Allen had more praise for McGloin, saying that he was impressive in minicamp. That performance could put him in line for the third string position or possibly the backup depending on how Wilson and McGloin perform in training camp later in the summer. McGloin set numerous records while playing at Penn State throwing for 46 touchdowns in his career and setting season marks with 270 completions, 24 scores and 3,266 yards passing.
With Flynn, Wilson and McGloin in the fold, there is a chance that Pryor could be traded down the line, but the team will likely keep him since he has explosive skills and because they used a supplemental draft pick on him. Since workouts ended for the summer, McGloin returned home to workout at Lakeland high school with his old coach from West Scranton, according to WNEP.com and he has been keeping up with his conditioning as training camp gets ready to begin.
McGloin signed a two-year contract with the team in May, meaning that McKenzie is hoping to keep him on the roster through training camp and into the season. He led the Big Ten in touchdown passes and he will be back with the Raiders for training camp on July 24 as they meet in Napa Valley to get ready for the upcoming season. The first preseason game for the Raiders will be on August 9 against the Dallas Cowboys and the team will be looking to improve from their 4-12 record last season.
The team added a number of new players, including Josh Cribbs on offense as well as Nick Roach and Kevin Burnett at linebacker. The defense is expected to be better in the secondary with Charles Woodson, Mike Jenkins, Tracy Porter and DJ Hayden, while the rushing game is expected to be better than 28th ranked if Darren McFadden can stay healthy.
