Oakland Raiders plan to keep Derek Carr with second unit, start Matt Schaub

Aug 8, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) reacts after throwing an interception during the second quarter against the Minnesota Vikings at TCF Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

Last year the Oakland Raiders brought in Matt Flynn from the Seattle Seahawks, a veteran acquisition that was expected to start as the Raiders Week One quarterback for much of August before eventually losing the starting job to the mobile dual threat promise of Terrelle Pryor.

While Flynn lost his job last season the move to go with Pryor didn’t pan out into success either as the former Ohio State star lost his job to Matt McGloin during the 4-12 season last year which spurred the Raiders to press the reset button, bringing in former Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub via trade during 2014 NFL Free Agency as the team’s expected starter.

After drafting Derek Carr in the second round it has been common to see those outside of the Raiders circles talking up the chances of Schaub suffering a similar fate to that of Flynn during the preseason in losing out on the starting job to the more promising and younger Carr. NFL.com in particular have been quick to suggest that the high 2014 draft pick can potentially steal the starter’s role as early as Week One against the New York Jets should Schaub struggle during the preseason and training camp.

However after Schaub struggled during a Preseason Week One loss to the Minnesota Vikings where drops, missed passes, and penalties from the offensive line stalled each of the veteran’s drives in the first quarter on Friday head coach Dennis Allen continued to confirm that Derek Carr will stay with that second unit leading up to their home game against Detroit this week.

When asked about the potential of Carr working with the first team, Allen insisted that the rookie leaping Schaub on the depth chart is presently not in the cards for the Raiders as they continue to plan for Schaub leading the offense in 2014.

“It’s not really part of the plan right now,” Allen said during an afternoon conference call with local media, according to CSNBayArea’s Scott Bair. “We’ll evaluate everything as we move along, but the plan is to work Matt Schaub as the starting quarterback. I think he’s done a good job of doing that.”

Schaub was average on Friday, but he also did have an extremely small sample size as well as the lack of both James Jones and Rod Streater as his expected primary targets downfield this season. After a performance that was best described as mediocre, Allen wasn’t displeased with Schaub’s outing but wants to see his play improve.

“I was not displeased with Matt Schaub’s performance,” Allen said according to Bair. “We obviously need to play better. We need to be more consistent, but I thought there were some things we can build on.”

Carr showed flashes of promise during his performance in Minnesota, but he also threw an interception in Vikings territory that prevented points from being put on the scoreboard and lacked the ability to finish drives in his NFL debut. Outplaying Schaub slightly wasn’t going to be close to enough of a performance from Carr to change the minds of the Oakland staff in going with the rookie instead of the veteran come Week One. There is time for that to change over the coming weeks, but for now those around the league should prepare to see Schaub under center come the Raiders regular season debut against the Jets in New York.