Oakland Raiders Lose No. 2 Seed, Find No. 2 QB

Connor Cook should be the quarterback for the Oakland Raiders this Saturday.

The Oakland Raiders should not have been able to draft quarterback Connor Cook in Round 4. He was among the most polished, pro ready quarterbacks in the 2016 NFL Draft. He went 34-5 as a starter at Michigan State but NFL teams were concerned about his intangibles.

They didn’t like the fact that Cook’s teammates didn’t vote him in as team captain. So they didn’t see where players would rally around him. So he went in Round 4, the same round as Dak Prescott, who’s ballin’ for the Dallas Cowboys.

The Raiders already had an established starter and backup in Derek Carr and Matt McGloin. So the Raiders never thought they would need to play Cook as a rookie. But Carr broke his leg in Week 16, so Cook became McGloin’s backup for Week 17.

Head coach Jack Del Rio gushed over his smarts, poise, grit and arm talent to rally Raider around McGloin. But Sunday, with the AFC West division title on the line, McGloin was ineffective before getting injured himself. Then Cook went in and looked like everything McGloin was supposed to be.

On the day, he was 14-21 for 150 yards, one TD and one INT for a quarterback rating of 83.4. Compare that to 6-11 for 21 yards, no TDs, no INTs and a quarterback rating of 60. Watching them play would make you think Cook got the reps all week.

With Cook in at quarterback, the Raiders averaged 5.96 yards per play (30 plays, 179 yards). With McGloin in at quarterback, the Raiders averaged a paltry 2.1 per play (20 plays, 42 yards). This Saturday, the Raiders face the Houston Texans and their No. 2 pass defense.

They have a mess a quarterback too so the Raiders have a chance to win that game. But from what we saw Sunday, it looks like Cook gives the team the best chance. Perhaps we should have the same optimism with Cook starting as we did McGloin.