Oakland Raiders: Five players to watch in preseason opener with the Lions
By Kevin Saito
E.J. Manuel / Connor Cook (Backup Quarterback)
The camp battle between E.J. Manuel and Connor Cook to be quarterback Derek Carr‘s primary understudy is one of the lesser heralded competitions.
But, it’s also potentially, one of the most important.
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We’ve seen over the last two years, that as Carr goes, so go the Raiders. After breaking a bone in his leg in week sixteen of the 2016 season, the Raiders fell apart, losing their last game of the year – and costing them a division title in the process – then getting bounced hard out of the playoffs by Brock Osweiler and the Houston Texans. Yeah, that one still stings a bit.
When Carr went down with injury last year and was replaced by Manuel, it touched off a four-game losing streak – the first of two last season, on the road to their 6-10 record.
Though Carr missed just one game, it was more than clear that the injury plagued him all season long. He was not the same quarterback he was before the injury. Not even close.
Which, barring a possible trade – hint, hint – makes the battle between Manuel and Cook critical to this team. If Carr is forced to miss any time this season, the Raiders can’t afford to have their offensive production take a hit.
Over the last couple of seasons, we’ve seen some very up and down result from both Manuel and Cook. Neither has shown an ability to put a team on their back and get them to a win. They’ve been – okay. At best.
Perhaps, in Gruden’s more quarterback-friendly system, both can thrive. It seems well set up to play to strengths both of them possess, and they could show us something we haven’t seen from them before.
For all of our sake, let’s hope they can.