Dec 7, 2013; Fresno, CA, USA; Fresno State Bulldogs quarterback Derek Carr (4) prepares to throw a pass against the Utah State Aggies in the second quarter at Bulldog Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
To Sit Or Not to Sit? The Rookie QB Debate Will Engulf Raiders With Derek Carr.
The Raiders second round draft pick, Derek Carr will likely not have the chance to make the same immediate impact as Mack will as the Fresno State product is projected to hold a clipboard next season behind Matt Schaub and potentially even behind Matt McGloin should the team hold onto three quarterbacks on their 53 man roster.
Sitting a rookie QB, even one drafted highly, is nothing new in the NFL and its merit has been debated enough times to admit that both sides have their points when it comes to when is the right time to throw a rookie passer to the wolves. The side that wants the rookies to start right away cry “If he isn’t NFL ready why did you draft him to be your future starting QB” and point out that game experience arguably is better than holding a clipboard. Citing that you can work on mechanics and the playbook as long as you want in practice, but the training wheels come off once playing at the speed of the NFL.
The group that values sitting a quarterback point out the opposite. Playing at the pro speed makes mechanics worse, and playing in a spot where you will assuredly struggle as a rookie in the most demanding position on the field can ruin confidence in addition to mechanics as players forget their fundamentals while under the pressure of an NFL defense. Throw in the fact that most teams who start rookie QB’s often are thin at the offensive line position and those who philosophically believe quarterbacks should learn from the sideline have legitimate reasons for believing so.
Still, both sides of the argument have merit as well as proven case studies as to why starting/sitting a highly drafted rookie quarterback is the best method to molding a franchise quarterback from the ground up. For every Aaron Rodgers that sits there is an Andrew Luck and for every failed Day One starter as a rookie there is another who sat and never got up to speed, or even got their chance to become a franchise quarterback.
For now the Raiders will be sitting Carr for his rookie season, a natural move considering that both Matt Schaub and backup Matt McGloin have NFL experience as starters with Schaub being a proven veteran and McGloin getting nearly half a season under his belt as a rookie last year. Will it pan out the way that it did for the Packers with Aaron Rodgers while general manager Reggie McKenzie was a member of the Green Bay front office? Only time will tell, but for now the presence of Carr as the eventual planned answer to a decade long struggle to find a successful quarterback to lead the Raiders puts the team right into the middle of the age old debate to start or to sit your highly drafted quarterback. Something that should give fans and pundits alike more than enough to debate about until Carr does take over the reigns in Oakland, if it ever happens.