In Seattle last year, quarteraback Matt Flynn found himself backing up a rookie quarterback taken after the first round with the last name of Wilson.
Flynn is in Oakland now, but Steve Corkran of the Bay Area News Group reports that he may still wind up experiencing a case of déjà vu this season. After seeing quarterback Tyler Wilson at rookie minicamp, Corkran writes that “it’s not a stretch to envision” the fourth-round beating out Flynn and Terrelle Pryor for the Raiders quarterback job.
It’s a rather gargantuan stretch to draw a line from a strong performance against tryout players to starting in NFL games, but it’s certainly fair game to speculate as long as the Raiders remain uncommitted at quarterback. Since Flynn and Pryor only have three pro starts between them, it’s not like Wilson is trying to scale Mt. Everest in terms of competition.
“It’s an opportunity,” Wilson said. “Obviously, there’s a lot I have to learn. … I’ve got a lot of work to do to get up to speed because there have been veteran guys that have been here that are way ahead of me right now. So, I’m playing catch-up from that point.”
Raiders coach Dennis Allen praised Wilson’s arm strength — a trait that caused some of the receivers problems, according to Corkran — and accuracy while pointing out some rust in picking up the team’s offensive system. Assuming that gets knocked off now that Wilson is able to practice with the teams, he should at least draw consideration for the job from a team that should take a page from Seattle’s book and pick the best man for the job instead of the likeliest choice at the start of offseason work.