The Oakland Raiders have a quarterback battle on their hands that they were not originally expecting. Matt Flynn and rookie Tyler Wilson were both in rotation during offseason works. Many beat writers reported Wilson actually looked like the better quarterback. Now in training camp, Flynn has established himself the starter, Wilson is declining and Terrelle Pryor is showing flashes of greatness. Dennis Allen is not really phased by this problem.
Oakland made their preseason debut on Friday night against the Dallas Cowboys and under the new regime of Allen and Reggie McKenzie, the Raiders are looking less and less like the joke team people assume they are. While they made be young and inexperienced, the two have built a roster stocked with potential and it starts with the quarterbacks.
Flynn started the game and did Ok. For his few series on the field, he looked like a starting quarterback with a few weeks of practice under his belt. The Raiders really did not need to see anything more. While Flynn is the set starter, it is Pryor that appears to be the fan favorite.
Pryor put in a large amount of offseason work to learn proper quarterback mechanics and the effort is paying off. The mobile quarterback went 6-of-10 for 88 yards in his two series on the field. He also ran for 31 yards on three carries. It is that sort of versatility that has Allen excited.
Allen remained coy on the quarterback competition after the first game, but told reporters that Pryor will see the field a lot in 2013. He will not be a starter but the Raiders are building a package of plays for him to run. While he remained happy with both Flynn and Pryor, he notes a real battle between Wilson and Matt McGloin.
In Friday's game, McGloin outplayed WIlson, something no one expected. The undrafted rookie is currently sitting above the fourth-round draft pick on the depth chart and looks poised to be a promising backup. This is simply creating an issue.
The Raiders will have to decide if they want to carry four quarterbacks on the roster. Flynn stays. Both Wilson and McGloin might not clear waivers. The odd man out would be Pryor, no matter how much Allen likes his mobile abilities. Pryor could easily garner trade interest, making him the easy guy to give up. With Allen liking the idea of of Pryor running a read-option package, the team has an issue on their hands they were not expecting.
