Outside of an interception in the red zone, Pryor seemed to have a strong preseason performance against the Dallas Cowboys completing six passes for 88 yards on 10 attempts and adding 31 yards on the ground.
While Pryor has no doubt improved his knowledge of the offense and opposing defenses, he’s still struggling with his footwork and decision-making. It’s these struggles that will limit Pryor and keep him from earning the starting job.
Pryor is a dangerous player when he can use his legs, and the Raiders would be wise to figure out how to get him involved, but he’ll continue to be inconsistent as a passer unless he can sort out his remaining issues. Entering year three of his career, it’s worth evaluating if Pryor is capable of improving his footwork and decision-making enough to be a starter in the NFL.
Some of Pryor’s supporters will undoubtedly ignore the evidence presented, but the tape doesn’t lie. There is a reason Flynn is the starter. The Raiders also have every incentive to make Pryor into a starter because his arm strength isn’t limiting like it is with Flynn, and he adds a running threat.
Decision-Making
The lazy analysis of Pryor’s interception in the end zone against the Cowboys was that it was a bad decision because he threw across his body. This is typically true because few quarterbacks have the arm strength to throw across their body; passes don’t get to the intended target and are often intercepted. In this case, there were actually two things about the play that were far more concerning.
The first cause for concern was that Pryor could have easily run with the ball (blue arrow). A first dow...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders
