The Oakland Raiders may believe they have solved their quarterback situation by trading for former Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub. But even if he goes back to being a Pro Bowl-caliber player, Schaub, 33, is not the long term answer.
For that reason, the Raiders need to see if they can find a quarterback prospect to take over for Schaub and should do it earlier rather than later. But while finding an heir apparent to Schaub is important, it will be hard for the Raiders to justify taking a quarterback in one of the first two rounds. Schaub is getting paid to start, and the Raiders need their first two picks to contribute almost immediately.
With other positions, guys don’t necessarily need to win a starting job in order to make an impact. But at the quarterback position, where a backup only sees the field in the preseason, blowouts or due to injury, a backup simply does not get a lot of chances to impact a game. Sure, a rookie could come in and win the starting job over Schaub and therefore be a contributor as a rookie, but that is a gamble and the Raiders cannot afford to gamble right now.
Reggie McKenzie and head coach Dennis Allen absolutley must put a team on the field that can compete now to keep their jobs. They might not need to make the playoffs, but they can’t be out of contention by Week 8. While Oakland’s offseason was not bad, they still need added depth before they can feel confident that this team will be competitive.
Meanwhile, you can take a quarterback in the mid rounds where it is expected that a player will need a couple of years to develop before they are ready to really make an impact. That way, whoever the Raiders take can sit and learn behind Schaub for a few years before any expectations will fall on their shoulders, which is a much better way for a quarterback to come into the league anyway.
Quarterbacks who *may* not get taken in the first two rounds
- A.J. McCarron – Alabama
- Zach Mettenberger – LSU
- Aaron Murray – Georgia
- Logan Thomas – Virginia Tech
- David Fales – San Jose State
- Keith Wenning – Ball State
- Connor Shaw – South Carolina
- Brett Smith – Wyoming
- Garrett Gilbert – SMU
- Tajh Boyd – Clemson
- Stephen Morris – Miami (Fla.)
- Bryn Renner – North Carolina
