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November 23rd, 2013
It was early May and the Raiders trotted four quarterbacks onto the practice field for a tryout: three veterans and an undrafted rookie out of Penn State. Raiders coach Dennis Allen said that by the third throw, he knew Matt McGloin was their guy.
"There was not one question in our mind by the end of the workout, really," Allen said.
The Raiders signed McGloin to be their fourth quarterback, behind Matt Flynn, Terrelle Pryor and fourth-round pick Tyler Wilson, at training camp, and somehow Sunday he stands as the team's starter.
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"The first thing I noticed about Matt that day was how quickly the ball got out of his hands," Oakland quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo said. "He has a short-step motion, he gets the ball out with accuracy, and he has a strong arm."
McGloin completed 18 of 32 passes for 197 yards and three touchdowns last week in his debut, but several passes were dropped and one was ruled out of bounds even though replays seemed to indicate otherwise. It's only a one-game sample, but McGloin averaged 2.44 seconds getting throws out, compared with 3.47 for Pryor, according to Pro Football Focus. He also has hit 57.1 percent of his deep passes, compared with 32 percent for Pryor.
McGloin wasn't drafted for his height, as he is closer to 5-foot-11 than his listed 6-1. But he has the three things the Raiders want in a quarterback: good decision-making, on-time throwing and accuracy.
"We say accuracy above anything else," offensive coordinator Greg Olson said. "It doesn't matter how smart you are or how unintelligent you are. If you can't complete a ball from point A to point B, it doesn't matter. He was the most accurate of that group that day."
