Arguably the Oakland Raiders’ biggest move in what has already been a busy offseason was the trade with the Houston Texans that landed them their new starting quarterback: Matt Schaub.
Schaub instantly gives the Raiders the kind of established veteran presence that the team has lacked at the position since the early 2000s with Rich Gannon—and has been in search of ever since.
Statistically speaking, Schaub was among the NFL’s top passers during his time in Houston, throwing for over 4,000 yards in each of the seasons he remained the starter throughout.
Of course, the move, which saw the Raiders send a sixth-round selection Houston’s way, didn’t come without criticism.
Schaub is coming off a difficult season for both him and the Texans, where the offense he led dropped off in a big way from years prior.
He has received most of the blame, but that is simply the nature of the quarterback position.
With a closer look, what we witnessed was an offense—built around the success of a running game—lose its ability to run the ball. As a result, they became increasingly predictable in their passing attack, and opposing teams capitalized in a big way.
As bad as it looked at the time, the somewhat disastrous 2013 season does little to diminish the otherwise respectable career Schaub has put together as a quarterback. It should be considered more of an outlier than anything else.
The Raiders will now have a quarterback that is experienced at the NFL level, has been a part of playoff teams and has proven capable of making every throw on the field.
Having said that, Schaub will turn 33 years old before the upcoming season, and while some consider this the age of a quarterback’s prime, the Raiders’ future at the position still needs to be addressed.
Initially, this trade lik...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders
