The Oakland Raiders may have identified their quarterback of the future in Matt Barkley. The talk heading into Friday's second round is that the Raiders are high on Barkley and may be targeting him at No. 42, which would give them a younger alternative to Matt Flynn, whom they traded for this offseason.
2013 NFL Draft: Raiders high on Matt Barkley, per report
Matt Barkley may find a home in Oakland if the recent chatter proves to be true.
Steve Dykes
#Raiders hearing a lot of Matt Barkley chatter at 42. Reggie was at his pro day. Don’t know how I feel about that one yet.
— Bill Williamson (@espn_afcwest) April 26, 2013
Barkley’s stock has plummeted since last year, when most projected he would have been a top five overall pick had he left USC, but the quarterback decided to stick around for his senior year and it all went south. He struggled in the second half of the season, injured his shoulder versus UCLA and had a lackluster pro day. By the time it was all over, he had fallen out of the first round.
But Barkley will likely hear his name called in what should be a quarterback-heavy second round. The only question is by whom?
The Raiders have Flynn, but he is 27 years old and has just two career starts so he is hardly a sure thing. If Oakland can grab a quarterback they like, they will almost certainly jump at the chance and at least according to the rumors, it appears as if they like Barkley.
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