Oakland Raiders: Solution to backup QB situation probably close to home

The Oakland Raiders have been linked with a couple of free agent quarterbacks so far this offseason, but the solution may be closer to home.

If the past couple of seasons have taught the Oakland Raiders anything, it’s that quarterback Derek Carr needs a capable, competent understudy. Like, really badly.

In 2016, with the team playoff-bound, Carr suffered a broken bone in his leg in a Christmas Eve game against Indianapolis, ending his season. Actually, it effectively ended Oakland’s entire season as the combination of Matt McGloin and then-rookie Connor Cook couldn’t do much of anything very well.

The Raiders ended up losing their week 17 game against Denver and then limped into the Wild Card game and got smoked by a Houston Texans team led by Brock Osweiler – a Texans team Carr and the Raiders had beaten some seven weeks before in Mexico City.

That two game losing streak ended Oakland’s chance at a division title and booted them out of the playoffs in the first round.

This past season, in a game against Denver, Carr was inadvertently kicked in the back and suffered three broken bones. A busted transverse process fracture was the official diagnosis and it kept him out of a week five game against Baltimore.

Carr’s understudy, E.J. Manuel filled in and to quote Dom DeLuise playing Julius Caesar in Mel Brooks’ classic, History of the World Part I, Manuel was, “Nice. Not thrilling, but nice.”

On the day, Manuel went 13/26 for 159 yards and a touchdown. Joe Flacco and the Ravens who, coming into the game, were averaging just 15 points per game – pedestrian even by Oakland’s meager standards last season – erupted for 30 points in their 13 point win.

Manuel didn’t lose the game for the Raiders, but he certainly didn’t do anything special to help the team win the game.

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All of this makes two things abundantly clear. First, it shows Carr’s importance to this team. And second, it shows that the Raiders need a solid, reliable backup who can hold down the fort in the event that Carr goes down.

Across the league, we see the importance of having a capable backup quarterback week in and week out. Look at Case Keenum in Minnesota. Nick Foles in Philly.

We also see what happens when teams don’t have a capable backup on their roster. Look at anybody on Cleveland’s depth chart. The New York Giants. Houston Texans. Miami Dolphins. The list goes on, obviously.

Which brings us to the Raiders and their aforementioned backup quarterback situation.

There’s been speculation that the Raiders will dip into the free agent market to find a capable veteran. Some believe the team will re-sign E.J. Manuel – some think they should. It wouldn’t be the worst move ever – maybe – but, it wouldn’t be the best move either.

Some have floated Colin Kaepernick‘s name out there as a potential target as well. That rumor started swirling around and it really caught fire when NFL writer Mike Freeman went full tin-foil hat, conspiracy theorist, and suggested that the NFL – in a bit of quid pro quo, Clarice – is twisting Oakland’s arm to sign Kaepernick and end his collusion case in exchange for them “taking care of the organization,” with their Rooney Rule violation in bringing Jon Gruden back to the East Bay.

All conspiracy theories and off-the-field issues aside, Kaepernick wouldn’t be the worst signing ever. He’s athletic and has proven that with the right coaching staff around him, he can perform at a very high level. Kaepernick could be a low risk, high reward backup if the team opted to go that route.

However, with other pressing areas of need on the defensive side of the ball, the Raiders very well may opt to spend the dollars they do have – which ain’t a lot – on help to plug those holes instead of turning over rocks for affordable yet competent free agent quarterbacks.

Especially when they have one on the roster who is not only affordable, but is one that Gruden is apparently very high on. Or at least, he was. And that quarterback is of course, third-year man Connor Cook.

When Oakland moved up in the fourth round to take Cook back in 2016, it came as a surprise to most.

Despite the fact that he’d had a pretty strong career at Michigan State, Cook saw his draft stock slip, primarily due to perceived character issues. GM Reggie McKenzie liked what he saw enough though, to uncharacteristically trade up for him.

And since then, except when pressed into service in those two games back in 2016, Cook has languished on the depth chart.

That’s a situation though, that could be changing with a new head coach and accompanying staff. It’s entirely possible that the Raiders could start the season with Cook as Carr’s primary understudy rather than bringing in somebody else to hold the clipboard.

In a conversation with Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole, Gruden admitted that he thinks Cook had first-round talent and was surprised he wasn’t taken earlier than he was.

Saw Gruden at an event before the 2016 Draft. After a couple of glasses of wine, he raved about Connor Cook. Gruden thought he should have been a first rounder https://t.co/Yr3xuTV3t2
— Jason Cole (@JasonCole62) January 3, 2018

Given Gruden’s predisposition to liking Cook’s talent – as well as not having a lot of cash, and a dearth of competent options anyway – it seems possible, if not likely, that Oakland will roll with Carr and Cook as the one and two on the depth chart.

To make that situation work though, Gruden is going to have to do something previous HC Jack Del Rio and his staff never did – work on developing Cook and getting him NFL-ready.

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Though there are many things you can fault Del Rio and his staff for, one of the biggest is in not developing their young talent. You can go down the list – Cook, Shilique Calhoun, Jihad Ward, David Sharpe, etc. – there are a number of young guys who have athleticism and talent, but they were never really developed. Del Rio and his staff never really got those young guys NFL-ready.

And as a result, their impact on the team and the league has been negligible. At best.