Barber: Raiders' Connor Cook falling behind in QB race

NAPA - They say the backup quarterback is the most popular player on an NFL team. That doesn't quite ring true when your starter is as adored as Derek Carr. But it's not far from the mark.

And the adage has a corollary. Among backup QBs, the young guy is usually the crowd favorite. You know what you're getting with a journeyman retread, and the prospect is rarely inspiring. But a rookie or second-year thrower? There's always a chance, an extremely remote chance, that he will be the next Tom Brady, or at least the next Kirk Cousins.

Thus, down in Santa Clara, the home fans would like nothing more than to see 2017 draftee C.J. Beathard rise above fourth-year vet Matt Barkley on the depth chart. And in the East Bay, most of the money is behind young buck Connor Cook as the Raiders prepare for Saturday's preseason game against the Los Angeles Rams.

Just one problem: Cook's stock seems to be falling this summer.

Not that he or head coach Jack Del Rio would care to admit as much.

“I think I've done a great job of getting better as camp has gone on,” Cook told me here a few days ago, before the Raiders broke training camp on Thursday. “I had one bad day the second day of practice. But ever since then, I've been locked and loaded mentally. Just taking it one day at a time, one play at a time, one drill, one period. And I think I've continued to progress and get better.”

That same day, Del Rio talked him up.

“He had a couple really, really good reads and throws today,” the coach said. “And the hard part for all of the quarterbacks, whoever ends up going with the guys that are the youngest and the greenest, it's going to look a little more ragged because they're not going to be on time with it as often and consistently. But I think all of our quarterbacks have been pretty sharp in this camp.”

To be fair, Cook looked pretty solid that day.

The practice ended with the third-team offense running 2-minute drills against the third-team defense in a live team period. Cook threw some incompletions, then found his rhythm with a short sideline connection to Keon Hatcher and back-to-back dump-offs to running back John Crockett. The “drive” ended when Cook threw deep to Whitney and the ball sailed out of bounds.

Mixed results like that haven't been enough to elevate Cook. He began training camp getting third-team reps behind No. 2 E.J. Manuel, a player who excites almost nobody, and that's where he remains. In the Raiders' 20-10 loss at Arizona a week ago, Manuel played the first half, Cook the second. And the results did not argue for a reshuffle.

Manuel completed 10 of 12 passes for 107 yards. Cook completed 10 of 21 for 82 yards, and 29 of those came on a screen pass to Crockett. The third-stringer did help get his team into the end zone one time, but he connected on very few passes downfield.

This is not how it was supposed to be. No one was clamoring for Cook to replace Carr last year. But after Carr broke his fibula against the Colts in Week 16 and backup quarterback Matt McGloin injured his shoulder at Denver a week later, you could feel the buzz when Cook took the field. Remember the adage. When in doubt, root for the kid.

Cook stoked the flames by holding his own in relief against the Broncos, completing 14 of 21 passes for 150 yards, a touchdown and an interception. A week later he became the first quarterback ever to make his first NFL start in the postseason when he took the field at Houston. It went poorly. The Texans sacked Cook three times, held him to a passer rating of 30.0 and advanced with a 27-14 victory.

“It was tough, obviously,” Cook told me. “Going against the No. 1 and No. 2 defenses (No. 4, to be accurate) one week after another was not easy. And in the NFL, no matter if it's even the worst defense, you gotta get the ball out quickly, you gotta be accurate and you've gotta throw to the right spot. And you've gotta see and identify coverages.”

Cook had precious few practice reps before he was thrown to the wolves last year, but he makes no excuses.

He notes that he had consistently stayed after practice with Jake Peetz, who was promoted from assistant quarterbacks coach to quarterbacks coach this offseason, to log additional work.

“I thought I was ready, but it didn't go our way,” Cook said.

At 6-foot-4 and 217 pounds, he definitely has the look of an NFL quarterback. He has a quick release, too, and he's known for his toughness. But Cook is not particularly mobile. If he is going to be a success at this level, it will probably come down to the mental side of the game.

Specifically, recognizing where the bad guys are -the guys who want to intercept the ball or hit him.

“Looking at rotation, at coverage, if it's going to go from single-high to two-high (safeties), from two-high to single-high, identifying pressures, different pressure looks, stuff like that,” Cook said.

He gave me an example of where he hopes to be once the regular season starts:

“You're watching (video) cut-up after cut-up of these teams, and you're watching snap after snap after snap of this certain coverage. Once you get out there in the game, and you see where one person's lined up, you're like, ‘Oh, this is that one coverage I saw.' Could be the difference between shade to the field or shade to the boundary.”

The question is how quickly Cook can become adept at this instant analysis. Del Rio kept three quarterbacks on his roster last year in Carr, McGloin (who was not re-signed) and Cook. It's a pretty good bet they'll carry three again. But it's not guaranteed. Many NFL teams go with two QBs, opting instead for a little more offensive line depth, D-line rotation or special-teams capability.

If Cook falls further behind Manuel, it's possible the Raiders will sign him to their practice squad, exposing him to the waiver wire in the process.

Carr is likely to play a series or two against the Rams, perhaps eating into Cook's playing time. That makes the situation more urgent for Cook. They might not mean much to the Derek Carrs of the world, but for a second-year quarterback who has yet to prove he can throw the ball accurately and consistently, preseason games are everything.

“They're huge,” Cook said. “Practices are one thing. But when you're out there and you get in between the lines, anything goes.”

Except mediocrity. It's time for Connor Cook to stand out.

You can columnist writer Phil Barber at 707-521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com. Follow him on Twitter: @Skinny_Post.