Skip to main content

Gradkowski Falling, Boller Rising

Bruce Gradkowski can't seem to stay healthy. Among his ailments of the last two seasons are torn MCLs in both knees, a torn pectoral and sore groin.

Despite Gradkowski's extensive injury history he has started a few games and been moderately successful. The Raiders still brought in veteran help in Jason Campbell and Kyle Boller in the offseason.

It now appears Gradkowski could be looking up to both on the depth chart come September 12 in Tennessee.

It wasn't hard to imagine such a scenario given Gradkowski's injury history and the obvious match between Boller's skill set and the Raiders favored offensive scheme.

During mini-camp the Raiders quarterback spot was competition and it seemed the Raiders were content to wait for Gradkowski to rehab his pectoral.  That turned out not to be the case, training camp started and the starting quarterback was announced to be Jason Campbell.

Gradkowski never really had a shot to showcase he could be the starter and now training camp is over and Gradkowski finds himself in a virtual dead heat with Kyle Boller to be the primary backup.

With Gradkowski sidelined, Boller saw increased camp repetitions and saw prolonged time in the first two preseason games.

Boller has impressed and why wouldn't he? He has everything you look for in a franchise quarterback. Although Boller's career never took off and his decision making was always questionable he may just now be putting it together. Maybe, maybe not.

His stint with the Rams in 2009 was rocky, but what wasn't rocky about the 2009 Rams? He started eight games in 2007 for the Ravens and completed 61.1% of his passes for 1743 yards with 9 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Two of the interceptions came in relief, not as a starter.

What the media and in turn fans think the Raiders will do and are doing is often not the case.

Perhaps it wasn't Gradkowski that was in a competition with Campbell, but Boller all along. What other reason is there to announce a competition, but declare a winner before one of the players gets a chance?

There are other explanations and I'm not saying I'm right. I'm not even saying I am, but it would explain the way the Raiders have handled the position.

Gradkowski will get on the field this Saturday and you can't count the guy out. He's gritty and gutsy and just might blow Boller out of the water. Boller could also have one of his famous meltdowns.

If neither create further separation, the Raiders will probably go with the better scheme fit who has more tape in the Hue Jackson offense.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Oakland Raiders Swing for the Fences in 2016 NFL Draft

[embed align="center"]http://gty.im/153039819[/embed] These aren't your daddy's Oakland Raiders or even your younger self's Raiders. If anything, these are your newborn's Raiders or your puppy's Raiders. These are the Raiders we've never seen before. Indicative of the freshness of the franchise was their 2016 NFL Draft. No longer slave to a high draft pick and desperate needs, the theme of the draft for the Raiders was upside. It's as if general manager Reggie McKenzie got so used to hitting his draft picks out of the park that he started swinging for the fences. We'll have to wait a couple of years before we know if he struck out or if he'll continue his Ruthian ways. First, McKenzie boldly went with a safety at No. 14 overall. Kyle Joseph is coming off a torn ACL and fills a major need, but safety isn't a premium position. Only a handful of safeties have been drafted in the first 14 picks in the last 15 years and include names like Ea

The Raiders aren't who we thought they were....they're better

The Oakland Raiders are tired of being the team that will be good in a year or two. The team expects to win now and it is winning now. We thought the Raiders needed more talent. We thought that being in the playoff hunt was a year away for this team, but we were wrong. This isn't the team we thought they were, they're better. On Sunday, they moved to 3-3 on Sunday with a 37-29 win over the San Diego Chargers that wasn't close until the final minute. It was also the Raiders second road win of the season. The last time the Raiders had two road wins by their sixth game was 2011. Before that, a five-year streak from 1998-2002. The Raiders went 8-8 in 1998, 1999 and 2011 and narrowly missed the playoffs each year.  They made the playoffs in 2000, 2001 and 2002. They didn't have a losing record in any of those seasons because teams that can win on the road are usually pretty good. As the season matures, there is more and more evidence that some of the "best-case scenario

Final 53-Man Roster Prediction

The Oakland Raiders will trim their roster to 53 players today. Expect them to make at least two waiver claims Sunday to address needs at defensive back and on the offensive line. As such, there are a couple guys on this final roster who could be waived on Sunday and could subsequently find their way onto the team's practice squad. As is, I've included a list of players who are candidates for the practice squad. There is some positional imbalance on the 53-man roster as I expect the Raiders to balance it out with a few waiver claims. [table id=8 /]