The first preseason game for the Oakland Raiders is officially in the books. Matt Flynn and company were able to get the best of the Dallas Cowboys last week and looked better than expected on both sides of the football.
With the team’s coaching staff getting a good look at the current roster, one position stuck out amongst the rest in terms of having more than two viable options. Although it appears to be a foregone conclusion that Flynn will be named the starter under center in Week 1, all two of the three potential backups made cases to make the final roster.
Head coach Dennis Allen spoke with Jerry McDonald of InsideBayArea.com following the first win in the preseason about whether or not the team will retain all four quarterbacks:
“I think we’ll look at that when we get closer to cut-down date. We’re way far ahead of ourselves as far as that’s concerned. We’re going to keep the 53-best players that we feel like give us a chance to have success on Sundays. Whether that’s three quarterbacks, four quarterbacks, two quarterbacks, I don’t know the answer to that yet. That picture will become more clear as we get closer to the end of preseason.”
At this point in time, Pryor appears to be the undisputed backup for Flynn under center. Despite that being the case, McGloin looked very good in his debut and may ultimately challenge Pryor for the second spot on the depth chart. Tyler Wilson on the other hand has struggled hasn’t looked like the player the team anticipated he’d be when they drafted him in the fourth round of the 2013 NFL Draft out of Arkansas.
Wilson was considered to be a threat to Flynn and Pryor, but hasn’t panned out thus far and may be cut as a result. Allen didn’t indicate a desire to keep more than two or three quarterbacks on the final roster, but may chose to only go with Flynn, Pryor and McGloin.
