"I am ready to show that last season is behind me, Raider Nation get ready."
The 2014 Oakland Raiders finally have a legitimate starting NFL quarterback. Like LeBron James says, "It's About Damn Time!" Yep its pretty much damn time the Raiders have finally gotten one. Raider Nation will tell you the last time the Raiders had a good quarterback was during the days of Rich Gannon which was about a decade ago. I don't even need to relive the putrid Raiders QB list. It goes on and on with lengthy QB busts and bad play.
In comes Matt Schaub who is fresh off his worst season as a starting quarterback where he only started 8 games and had more interceptions than touchdowns. Let's be real and admit Schaub was pretty bad last season as the Texans starting quarterback. But before last season Schaub had a pretty good career with the Texans from 2008-2012. During that span Schaub threw for 4,000 yards three times and made the Pro Bowl twice.
Positives: Schaub has the the NFL size standing in at 6 ft 5 and weighs 235 pounds. Schaub has a good arm and has a gunslinger mentality as was on display in week 11 against the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2012, Schaub threw for a career-high 527 yards and a career-high 5 touchdown passes in a 43-37 overtime victory for the Texans. Schaub's 527 yards is tied with Hall of Famer and former Houston Oilers quarterback Warren Moon for the second-most passing yards in a single game in NFL history.
Negatives: Let's be real as football fans and say no one could have predicted Schaub to have his worse season as a pro last year. I didn't see it coming nor did the Texans. But maybe the mafia in Houston knew or seen this coming! Or maybe Schaub had a side contract with the Houston mafia and they told him to throw a pick-six in four consecutive games, which is an NFL record. Could it be they made him an offer he couldn't refuse? I am just saying!
Schaub needs to focus on quit staring down his receivers and throwing wobbly passes. His accuracy got the best of him last year in the worst way. He needs to be in more sync with his receivers going forward.
2014 Outlook: Schaub has all the NFL tools to continue playing at a high level. He can make any throw and he has good accuracy.But he needs to be consistent more with his accuracy and his decision making. The Raiders have a solid big receiving core. Little, Streater, Jones and Holmes are all big receivers. So far the report out of Oakland camp is that this year's offense is going to allow Schaub more freedom to make more plays down the field. I heard Texan's offense last year was a very vanilla boring offense which featured little explosive plays. Hey its a new change of scenery and a new offense maybe this is what Schaub needs to turn his career around because if not rooki backup Derek Carr is waiting in the wings.