NFL: 5 starting QBs on the hot seat
By Phil Watson
Matt Schaub, Oakland Raiders
Why is Schaub on this list? Because the Raiders haven’t had the same quarterback start all 16 games in a season since Rich Gannon in 2002—also the last time Oakland made the postseason—so the odds are really good that Schaub will grab some bench at some point.
Reports out of Oakland early in training camp claim Schaub is “getting his mojo back,” at least according to new Raider Antonio Smith, who played with Schaub in Houston for the last four seasons.
Schaub was a Pro Bowler in 2012, when he led Houston to a 12-4 record and a division title. He was awful last season, starting eight games and completing 61.2 percent of his passes for 2,310 yards and 10 touchdowns, with 14 interceptions, a career-worst 73.0 passer rating and a Total QBR of 37.3 (32nd of 39 qualifiers).
He went from Pro Bowler to guy benched behind undrafted rookie in one short but spectacular plunge. That’s not to say Schaub can’t get whatever mojo he had back, rather it’s just to say that when a player’s career takes that dramatic a downward turn at age 32, there may be no going back.
Oakland drafted Fresno State stat-stuffer Derek Carr in the second round and the Raiders are historically impatient with quarterbacks.
That’s a tough equation to solve for in a way that has Schaub still standing as the starter in December.