Raider Nation is hoping God forbids something happens to QB Derek Carr again in 2017. Of course, we all remember the disaster that came with Carr being injured at the end of the 2016 season. Backup Matt McGloin was horrible in relief of Carr just like he was back in 2015 before getting injured himself.
That left Connor Cook, then a rookie, to go in for McGloin and he wasn’t a whole lot better. In fairness to Cook, he was a third-string rookie that didn’t get any reps all season until Carr got hurt. But still, Cook didn’t do anything to show he’s definitely the guy to go to without Carr.
And McGloin, who wanted a chance to start, has moved onto the Philadelphia Eagles. So the Raiders brought in veteran E.J. Manuel, formerly of the Buffalo Bills, to compete with Cook. Manuel is a former 1st-round pick that has 17 career regular season starts to just one for Cook.
So Cook has to show that he learned fast from last year to beat him out to be Carr’s backup. Levi Damien of Silver and Black Pride reported via Twitter that they have shared second-team reps. Of all the competitions on the team, this is one of the more important ones, given what happened last year.
Will Manuel show he has something to offer after busting in Buffalo?
Will Cook show enough growth to remain Carr’s backup?
When training camp starts in six weeks, we’ll start to see who will be Carr’s insurance policy.
Just win, baby!
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