For Raiders quarterback Nathan Peterman, the magic number on Thursday night was eight.
He was eight for eight against the Cardinals, but due to gaining only 41 yards and throwing no touchdown passes, his passer rating, however, was only 88.
While that’s a far cry from the former Bills quarterback’s disastrous 2017 performance against the Chargers, it may not be enough to topple Mike Glennon for the No. 2 job in Oakland -- especially since Glennon’s performance last night generated a perfect passer rating of 158.3.
Glennon completed 11 of 14 passes for 175 yards (12.5 yards per attempt), with two touchdowns and no interceptions. That reflected a significant improvement over his Week One performance against the Chargers, which featured two picks and a passer rating of 58.8.
Within the next 15 days, coach Jon Gruden will trim the team’s roster from 90 to 53. He’ll have to decide whether to carry two or three quarterbacks. If Peterman remains at No. 3, will Gruden keep him?
Last year, Gruden kept two quarterbacks on the initial 53-man roster: Derek Carr and A.J. McCarron.
Gruden raved about Peterman before the 2017 draft, and Gruden surely relishes the chance to make Peterman a Rich Gannon-style reclamation project. If Gruden cuts Peterman, the XFL may come calling, with a requirement that Peterman slam the door on potentially signing with an NFL team in order to focus on the launch of the resurrected spring league.
Regardless, Gruden apparently has a couple of viable candidates to serve as the backup to Carr. In Glennon, Gruden has a guy who is pretty much all he’ll ever be. In Peterman, Gruden has someone who could maybe become something more than a backup.