Hilger Gets Chance to Show ‘Potential’ Tonight : Quarterbacks Luther and Wilson Will Also Play Against Buffalo at Coliseum

Summer is the time when National Football League teams seek answers to many questions, but the exhibition game at 6 tonight between the Raiders and Buffalo Bills at the Coliseum may not help with these:

--What is the Raiders’ quarterback situation?

--Where’s Irwindale?

Tight end Todd Christensen was willing to tackle the first. The second he left alone.

Christensen’s livelihood as football’s most prolific pass catcher depends less on the ZIP code than the delivery man. So, he was asked, why did he think Rusty Hilger, an untested former sixth-round draft choice, was handed the starting job three months before training camp opened?

“It’s one of those nine-letter words that curses Rusty Hilger: potential, “ Christensen said. “But the NFL is the type of corporation that thrives on that. We pay the (Brian) Bosworths all this money because they have potential to do it.

“(Hilger’s) got the arm and the mobility and it appears that he can play, but it remains to be seen until Sept. 13 (opening game at Green Bay) whether he can. Even then, it’s going to take a while to see if he can do the job.

“I’m of the opinion that he can, but I think that maybe Al (Davis) was thinking that because he was not able to trade for the top-flight quarterback that he coveted, that the next best thing would be to surround (Hilger) with as good a supporting cast as he could--hence, he went out and got (receivers) James Lofton and Mervyn Fernandez and drafted some offensive linemen to protect the young quarterback.”

Hilger’s elevation left Marc Wilson in limbo. Wilson was a first-round draft choice in 1980 and is being paid $900,000 a year.

“Marc is a very good quarterback,” Christensen said. “But he has been in a situation where he’s had to follow (Jim) Plunkett when Plunkett’s been at his best, after Super Bowl wins in ’80 and ’83.

“Plunk gets hurt and Marc comes in, and when he can’t get us back to the Super Bowl, he gets blamed for it.”

Coach Tom Flores said that Wilson might follow Hilger and Ed Luther in tonight’s rotation, “depending on how many plays we have.”

A mop-up quarterback in a practice game? No, Flores said, Wilson hasn’t been written off. It’s just that the Raiders don’t need to see much of him.

“We know Marc pretty well,” Flores said. “He’s getting almost as much work in practice as the rest of them. I wouldn’t say we’ve written him off at all. We’ve just got some tough decisions, and we need time to do that.”

In March, the Raiders signed Luther, 30, a former San Diego Charger, as a free agent and for about a month, until Hilger was publicly declared No. 1, there was speculation that he might have a serious shot at the job.

Finally, there is Plunkett, who will turn 40 on Dec. 5, a fate that befalls the best of them.

For now, Plunkett doesn’t even have a uniform. Following off-season shoulder surgery, he is listed as “physically unable to perform” but has been throwing passes on the sideline.

Flores said, “He looks like he’s throwing well, but it’s hard to tell. Within the next couple of weeks I’ll have to do a couple of things to see if the strength is still there.”

Flores said he must determine Plunkett’s immediate future by Aug. 31 when NFL teams cut to 60 players. By then he may know if he’ll need him.

Raider Notes Bill quarterback Jim Kelly probably will play only the first half against the Raiders, Coach Marv Levy indicated. While the Raiders were losing to San Francisco last week, 42-16, the Bills were losing at Atlanta, 19-14. . . . Raider guard Chris Rhiem played with Kelly at Houston in the United States Football League. “It was a very exciting offense,” Rhiem said. “He was always rolling out one way or the other.” . . . Tom Flores said the Raiders will use more offensive and defensive schemes than last week. “We were pretty vanilla,” he said. “We’re gonna mix it up a little and do some things we’ve been working on.” For one thing, Rusty Hilger will get more chances to throw to new receivers James Lofton and Mervyn Fernandez.