Wilson to Be Starter for Raiders in Opener

Ending what little suspense remained, Raider Coach Tom Flores declared his quarterback derby over Friday, naming Marc Wilson to open the season against the Broncos Sept. 7 at Denver.

Fanfare was minimal. Flores needed five words: “Wilson will start next week.”

But that was verbose compared to Wilson’s reaction.

Told that he was the official No. 1, Wilson grinned.

Asked if he was happy, he said: “Yes.”

Wilson started last season after Jim Plunkett had been hurt, but his performance was a point of some disagreement. Flores defended him, but Al Davis almost traded him to the Eagles, reportedly offering to put up the first $750,000 of Wilson’s salary.

Flores said at the start of training camp that quarterback would be a competitive position among Wilson, Plunkett and Rusty Hilger, an announcement that met with some skepticism among the Raiders. Indeed, before the first exhibition game, Flores was saying that Wilson had an edge.

Nothing Wilson did after that cost him that edge, although it was a near thing for a little while. In the first home exhibition, Wilson was booed upon introduction, threw an interception on his first pass, then sprained his right wrist tackling the interceptor, Dallas’ Steve DeOssie.

He came back in that game, though, and threw a 60-yard touchdown pass to Rod Barksdale.

A week ago, Wilson completed only 5 of 15 passes against the Patriots but left with a 17-3 lead. Thursday night, he completed 6 of 12 for 119 yards against the Browns, one of them a 71-yard scoring pass to Barksdale.

He left midway through the second period with a 19-3 lead after aggravating the sprained wrist. He says he doesn’t expect it to be a problem.

In other developments:

--Cornerback Brad Cochran, the No. 3 pick from Michigan, suffered a back injury and may wind up on injured reserve.

--Barksdale, the second-year wide receiver who was starting to happen, has a right ankle injury that may be worse than the sprain first announced. If it is, he’s another candidate for injured reserve.

--Charley Hannah, last year’s starting left guard, is still at home in Tampa, Fla., his contract negotiations apparently being no closer then they were two weeks ago.