The Oakland Raiders' quarterback play was so wretched at June's mandatory minicamp that it led Gregg Rosenthal to describe the team's offseason as a "sliding scale of awfulness."
Could the Raiders have produced a more optimistic offseason storyline if they had lucked into the quarterback they originally were targeting in the 2013 NFL Draft? According to Len Pasquarelli of the National Football Post, the Raiders had planned to "jump on" Matt Barkley with their fourth-round pick, only to watch the Philadelphia Eagles snare the former USC quarterback earlier in the round. Tyler Wilson then joined the Raiders as their "fallback option."
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Wilson made a strong impression early in organized team activities, leading one Raiders beat writer to declare that the former Arkansas star was "not an ordinary rookie."
The consensus in May was that Matt Flynn might experience deja vu, losing the starting job to a mid-round rookie for a second consecutive summer. That talk has died down, however, with Wilson's play tailing off in June and Raiders coach Dennis Allen anointing Flynn the starter "until the competition dictates otherwise."
Meanwhile, Barkley currently is viewed as the odd man out in the competition with Michael Vick and Nick Foles for the Eagles' starting job. Had Barkley slid 14 more spots in the fourth round, he might have been riding high as the clubhouse leader in Oakland.
Follow Chris Wesseling on Twitter @ChrisWesseling.
