Raiders coach Dennis Allen: Carson Palmer will have competition

QB Carson Palmer won't just be handed the starter's keys next season, Raiders coach Dennis Allen said. (US Presswire)

Raiders quarterback Carson Palmer threw for 4,018 yards and 22 touchdowns in 2012, but that doesn't mean coach Dennis Allen is going to just hand the starting job to Palmer next year. Allen told the NFL Network on Thursday that Palmer can expect to have some competition at quarterback.

"We're going to have some competition at that position," Allen said via the San Francisco Chronicle. "The more competition that you can create, the better your football team is going to be. We're going to look at that as we're moving forward, but I feel good about Carson."

Allen also said that he thought Palmer "did an outstanding job for us last year."

Palmer's competition would presumably be Terrelle Pryor, who made his lone start of 2012 in the Raiders' regular season finale, a 24-21 loss to San Diego. Pryor accounted for all three Oakland touchdowns in the game, throwing for two and rushing for one. The former Ohio State quarterback also threw for 150 yards and ran for 49 in the loss to the Chargers.

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"Terrelle did some nice things in the final game of the season last year," Allen said. "So it will be interesting to see how he does as we move forward."

Whoever ends up winning the Raiders' quarterback job can plan on at least one thing: handing the ball off to Darren McFadden more. "That's one of the things we're going to look at when we get back to Oakland, is we're really going to look at the thing Darren McFadden does really well," Allen said. "And we're going to ask him to do those things as much as possible."

Palmer and Pryor will be working with new offensive coordinator Greg Olson, who was hired on Jan. 19.

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