With the countdown to the NFL draft now in full swing, let’s look at how one older brother’s failure led to the resurrection of another franchise. We’re talking about the Raiders, of course.
Rick Smith, general manager of the Houston Texans, selected Jadeveon Clowney with the first overall pick and Xavier Su’aFilo with the 33rd pick of the 2014 NFL Draft. Meanwhile, Reggie McKenzie selected Derek Carr with the 36th pick, effectively cementing the foundation of the current Raiders roster by selecting a franchise quarterback that every team passed on including his brother’s old team in Houston.
Since that time, the Houston Texans have gone through Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallet, Brandon Weeden, Brock Osweiler, and Tom Savage while the Raiders found the quarterback they had yearned for since Rich Gannon decided to call it quits.
Some people have pointed out that the Texans may have passed on taking Derek because of his brother David who played for the franchise from 2002 to 2006.
Seth Wickersham of ESPN said that “teams might now consider Derek Carr the top quarterback if not for one unshakable liability. His brother David. “
Between having a slow throwing motion and lousy protection, David took a pounding and was sacked 249 times in a 5-year span via NFL.com. He never developed into the franchise quarterback he was thought to be and bounced around the NFL as nothing more than a backup. So when the Texans held the first overall pick and saw the opportunity to pick a Carr, they must have felt like deja vu all over again.
If the Texans didn’t pick Derek Carr because of his last name, then he was a victim of reverse nepotism. He wasn’t given the chance to show what he was capable of, because of his family ties; and one can say this decision has left the Texans cursed at quarterback.
Regardless of the reason, the Raiders are set at the quarterback position for years to come because of what may have been a case of reverse nepotism.
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