Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr has been a hot topic of conversation as the team prepares to pillage its way into Sin City.
Former NFL quarterback Chris Simms recently came out with his latest top 40 quarterbacks and has Carr in at No. 19. Simms, who also has experience playing for Jon Gruden, said in regards to Carr via Twitter, “More toughness & talent than ppl think. One of the most accurate throwers in the NFL, almost never loses control of the pass. But too conservative in decisions & throws, leaves yds on the field. Wish Gruden & Mayock made him feel more secure.”
Some of Carr’s numbers are astounding, but on the other hand, there are stats that say otherwise. This leads some to question whether or not Carr is ‘the guy’ to lead the Silver and Black. It seems as if whenever a point is made in a positive light, there is someone who quickly rebuttals with a negative counterpoint, and vice versa.
Lacking Coaching Consistency Till Now
In my opinion, Simms is spot on in his analysis. However, while I agree with this take, I think there is more that needs to take into consideration. Carr comes off as the type of quarterback that will operate smoothly and the team will be successful when he has weapons around him. On the contrary, when things go awry, the “Carr” can get off course from its intended destination.
Even to my own point, there is always the counter. Not even taking into account the players he’s surrounded with, Carr has unfortunately not had consistency with his own coaches until now. Through his six seasons in the league, he has endured four different head coaches and is on his second stint with offensive coordinator Greg Olson. Although Carr has dealt with change on a consistent basis, he appears to have settled into Gruden’s offensive system.
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Security Is Everything
Simms noted how he wished Carr had more security by Gruden and Mayock. Last offseason, they opted to secure talent. The team signed former Chargers wideout, Tyrell Williams, along with the talented, albeit troubled, Antonito Brown via trade. Simultaneously, the Raiders added loads of talent through the draft. While the AB experiment failed in dramatic fashion, the front office layed a foundation of success with the highly successful draft class.
Before seeing a decline in numbers due to injuries, Williams had caught a touchdown pass in the first four weeks of the season. He then missed two games before catching a touchdown the week he returned back to the field. While Darren Waller wasn’t a part of that particular offseason’s additions, he did emerge as a budding superstar. During his first season as a starting tight end, he led the team in receiving with 90 catches for 1,145 yards and caught three touchdown passes.
Despite a lack of consistency on who his targets on the outside were, Carr still posted career highs with a rating of 100.8, and threw for 4,054 yards with a 70.3 completion percentage. This past offseason the team appears to have another draft class stocked with offensive weapons. Furthermore, they’ve added skilled veteran players along with guys on ‘prove it’ deals. From the look of it, Gruden and Mayock have done all they can to make Carr feel a sense of security.
No Excuses For Derek Carr
The talent is in place for Carr and the team to have immediate success and it should result in wins. Based on the rankings laid out by Simms, Carr is perhaps in the best position to take a massive leap forward and catapult up said list.
Unless unforeseen injuries occur, there are no excuses for this team (offensively) and it all rides on the arm of Derek Carr. Josh Jacobs will spearhead the running back fresh off a prolific rookie year. Darren Waller emerged as stud tight end and on the outside, there’s a multitude of threats headlined by first-round pick Henry Ruggs III. Providing the “Carr Insurence” for all of this is one of the most talented offensive lines in the league.
I predict we see Carr showcase much of what worked last season paired with his dominance from 2016 and see him take that next step forward in elevating his game. If you disagree, which I’m sure many of you will — let me know why in the comments or on Twitter, @SportsWithChris.
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Carr doesn’t have to make any excuses. He’s been the only functional piece of the roster since he’s been around. Carr has played hard, has played hurt, has played for a carousel of OCs, no receivers, no running game, and no defense for most of his career. Please stop it.
Meaningless, recycled click bait. Does anybody who writes for this site have an original idea?
I think Carr is going to have a big year and the Raiders will fight for a division championship and if not Gruden will move on from Carr in 2021.
The new excuse will be, “He hasn’t had enough time with his new receivers.†You either love him or hate him. I’m over him. Mariota will be starting by week 6.
Yes, I feel like the Raiders have waited to much, but they are the ones making decisions. They must see something in Carr that made them feel good about keeping him.
Much of Carr’s issues were Gruden’s issues with play calling and check downs. With no down field threat and injuries of Williams and Renfrow they became very Conservative in the 2nd half which was there undoing. But You are correct – with Ruggs and the other talent they brought in barring injury they should spark on offense.
Carr has had 5 different offensive coordinators he needs this year and next year
I’m hoping Carr proves to be the guy with the revamped roster but we can’t keep making excuses forever about the alarming lack of results. Carr hasn’t had the most consistent team around him with a lack of talent at skill positions, a poor defense, and a revolving door of OCs. He has proven to be a solid qb but the bottom line is that as the roster gets better we need to have results. Carr has a great line, TE, and RB, and the team has made significant investments on defense and at receiver. It’s time for Carr to show out or we need to move on. I’m a Carr fan and I think he has the potential to take us to the playoffs this year, but if our offense continues to struggle it’s time to move on.