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Oakland Raiders: Carr speaks on Rod Streater’s healthy scratch

By Chase Ruttig

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Just two seasons ago former UDFA Rod Streater was the rising star of the Oakland Raiders franchise at wide receiver and one of the few bright spots on a team that finished 4-12 at the end of the 2013 season. Streater started 14 games for the Raiders in that season, finishing with 888 yards playing with three different starting quarterbacks and earned deserved hype around him as a potential diamond in the rough discovery by the franchise in going from UDFA to the team’s top wideout.

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Going into 2014 with Derek Carr as the starter the expectations were high for Streater to potentially become the team’s first 1000 yard wideout since Randy Moss before a foot injury sidelined him for the majority of the year. Streater registering just 88 yards in three games before being shut down for the season, something that has turned into a bit of a setback as the former Temple wideout has now gone from a rising star to one the fringes of the depth chart in Oakland.

Streater’s return for 2015 hasn’t went as expected as after missing the bulk of last season he missed a large portion of training camp and the preseason with an undisclosed illness. That set Streater back, and now the receiver suffered perhaps his biggest setback yet as he was a healthy scratch for the Raiders win in Week 2 over the Baltimore Ravens. A move that paid off for the coaching staff as Andre Holmes and Seth Roberts played major roles in the win, with Roberts catching the game-winning touchdown in the dying seconds.

With Streater’s absence on Sunday after being a healthy scratch comes the new reality that the Raiders have a bulk of talent at the receiver position that they haven’t had in years. A group that has Amari Cooper, Michael Crabtree, Seth Roberts and Andre Holmes along with Streater leading to plenty of competition in the locker room for snaps on Sundays. Particularly at the bottom end, which Streater found out during Week 2 when he was the odd man out as the fifth receiver on the depth chart with the team only starting four and going with three tight ends.

On Wednesday, starting quarterback Derek Carr spoke to the media about that wide receiver depth. Noting that a talented player in Streater being scratched shows that this team has a wealth of weapons at wideout for the passing game this season.

Streater’s role as a depth player may be a blessing for the Raiders, but for a receiver who had two strong seasons in Oakland to start his career the newfound role may be a problem as Streater attempts to get back to the level he was at coming onto the scene with the team. The only way he can do that is by getting onto the field, and with Holmes and Roberts both making big plays last week it is going to be hard for the former number one target in Streater to get back into the gameday roster unless the staff decide to drop a tight end to take five wideouts.

Expect to see Streater get in the rotation over the course of the year, but with the way the Raiders four receivers played against the Ravens it does appear that the team has a good thing going leading up to Week 3 in Cleveland. Leading to the question as to if the team should try to add even more depth by making space for Streater or if they should stick to what is successful. Either way the starting QB in Carr appears to be confident in the depth of weapons he has on Sundays so far this season, even if Streater will be hoping that he is one of those targets for the quarterback in the very near future after a rare healthy scratch last week.

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