Well before the 2013 NFL season began, the Oakland Raiders were in the midst of a quarterback controversy. The team decided to trade for Matt Flynn from the Seattle Seahawks after parting ways with veteran Carson Palmer.
Initially, the move to acquire Flynn made sense and as a result designated Terrelle Pryor as the second quarterback on the depth chart. Shortly after being considered the projected starter in Oakland, Flynn started dealing with elbow tendinitis and sat out the majority of the preseason as a result, Pryor emerged as the better option under center for head coach Dennis Allen and ultimately earned the starting job.
Once Pryor went down with a concussion following the loss to the Denver Broncos, Flynn was thrust into the starting role and failed to make any kind of impact against the Washington Redskins. With Flynn being ineffective against one of the worst defenses in the NFL, the Raiders demoted and ultimately waived Flynn.
Pryor remains the starter for the Raiders moving forward with rookie Matt McGloin backing him up and Allen has no intention of bringing in a third quarterback for insurance behind McGloin according to Steve Corkran of the Contra Costa Times via Twitter:
With concerns surrounding Pryor’s concussion earlier in the season and Flynn being waived, the team worked out David Carr, Trent Edwards and Pat White recently, but the team decided not to sign another veteran quarterback.
Pryor’s style of play is prone to injury. The Ohio State product extends play with his legs and gets hit a lot as a result.
In Week 6, Pryor was sacked a career-high 10 times by the Kansas City Chiefs. Although Pryor was not hurt after being knocked around by the Chiefs, there’s still a lot of risk in having only two quarterbacks to work with considering the potential for injury that comes with Pryor’s style.
