In some quarters, Matt McGloin is viewed as an unnecessary luxury item for the Raiders.
The team’s No. 3 quarterback goes into late-July training camp behind second-year starter Derek Carr and veteran pickup Christian Ponder. Some writers who cover the team, including Bill Williamson of ESPN.com, believe the team could wind up trading McGloin at some point.
“If McGloin has a good preseason but is still behind Ponder as Carr’s backup, I could see another team wanting to trade for him to become their backup,” he wrote recently. “It coud be something to watch in early September.”
Plus, there’s Cody Fajardo, the undrafted free agent from Nevada, who performed well during spring workouts and could make more progress this summer.
But McGloin, who signed with the Raiders two seasons ago as a free agent out of Penn State – and then wound up earning a starting job as a rookie – isn’t going into training camp thinking about that type of scenario.
McGloin told a newspaper in Erie, Pa., this past weekend that he just has to continue to prove himself and let everything else take care of itself.
“At the end of the day you should always be competing,” he said. “You should be working hard to get better and you have to have guys who are going to push you in practice. Going into my third year, I am going to control what I can control and stay positive.”
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McGloin played in seven games as a rookie in 2013, starting six games. He completed nearly 56 percent of his passes (118-of-211) for 1,547 yards and eight touchdowns and eight interceptions, with a QB rating of 76.1 In 2014 he played just one game, completing 12-of-19 throws for 129 yards, a TD and one pick.
McGloin has flashed potential in his limited appearances, especially in leadership and throwing the deep ball. In fact, his career QB rating of 74.5 is just behind the 75.9 rating of Ponder, who started 36 games in Minnesota before moving to Oakland this offseason.
Now McGloin, 25, enters the final year of his rookie contract needing to impress the Raiders again if he hopes to stay in Oakland.
“I think mentally, I am right where I want to be and I have improved physically,” McGloin told the newspaper in Erie. “I am stronger and I am anxious to get started and make the most of the reps that I get, because as a backup you don’t get many reps. I am going to be as well-prepared as I can be and will be ready when my opportunity presents itself.”
