Raiders General Manager Reggie McKenzie said just before the draft that Matt Flynn is the starting quarterback, and that Terrelle Pryor will have a chance to compete. After the draft, when the Raiders selected Tyler Wilson in the fourth round, that plan hadn’t changed much.
“We’re going to begin with Matt Flynn,” McKenzie said before the draft. “Now, the quarterbacks who will be on the roster from that point on, they will all compete. Like I said, every position, it’s all about getting players that can play and competing.”
Asked after the draft if Wilson can compete right away, McKenzie suggested that he’d get his shot, but that nothing had changed about the plan to give Flynn the first shot.
“He’s a rookie,” McKenzie said of Wilson. “I want him to learn the playbook first. Get out here and make sure he gets behind the center, not behind the guard. You want these guys to come in and just show the coaches and their team, number one, that they belong. Then all the other stuff will come.”
Reading between the lines of what McKenzie says about Flynn, you get the sense that McKenzie believes Flynn is a smart player and a safe bet who won’t lose games for the Raiders, but that Pryor and Wilson have more upside.
“I think he’s going to be a solid quarterback,” McKenzie said of Flynn. “Now how good can he be? We’ll figure that out, but I think he’s got a chance to be a good, solid quarterback. He hasn’t played a lot of games so that’s what’s ahead of him, to see how he plays. He’ll get in here and compete and try to see if he can show his team and coaches if he can play.”
So Flynn enters the offseason as No. 1, but it wouldn’t be surprising if a young quarterback beats him out for the starting job. Just like in Seattle last year.