Oakland Raiders: 17 burning questions heading into the 2018 season
By Brad Weiss
Who is the backup quarterback?
Last season, the Oakland Raiders rolled with E.J. Manuel as their backup quarterback, and he actually had to start a game when Derek Carr broke his back. During the offseason, the team made the decision to bring him back into the fold, where he will once again challenge to be Carr’s backup in 2018.
In addition to Manuel, Connor Cook is also back, and Gruden has been giving the former Michigan State star a long look. Gruden liked Cook a lot during his QB Camp, and it would not be surprising to anyone if he moved past Manuel on the depth chart this summer.
Outside of Manuel and Cook, the only other quarterback on the Raiders current 90-man roster is Christian Hackenberg. A former second round pick of the New York Jets, the Raiders traded away a conditional seventh-round pick for Hackenberg in May, and he will try to lose his bust status with the Silver and Black.
The real competition is between Manuel and Cook, and they appear to be pretty close right now. Cook started the Raiders playoff game against the Houston Texans two years ago, his only start of his NFL career, so give the nod to Manuel based on experience as he head towards mandatory minicamp next week.