Four observations from Raiders HBO Hard Knocks episode 4

Jon Gruden’s strong belief in Nathan Peterman

Heading into training camp Nathan Peterman had a ginormous obstacle to overcome if he wanted to make the Raiders final roster. Peterman’s track record in the NFL has been inadequate, but Gruden clearly saw something early on.

While battling it out with Mike Glennon for the backup duties, Peterman has put up quite the fight. Gruden still hasn’t expressed any indication on who is winning the backup job thus far, but Peterman has stood his ground. In fact, Gruden told Peterman after last weeks win over the Green Bay Packers, that it’s the best football he’s seen him play since his time at the University of Pittsburgh.

It’s unclear how many quarterbacks the Raiders will keep on the final 53-man roster, but one thing that is clear, is that Gruden believes Peterman can be a quality quarterback in this league. Many critics have not only crushed Peterman, but they’ve even crushed Gruden for supporting him, but that doesn’t seem to stop Gruden from the attempt of putting him on his final roster come week 1 of the regular season.