Oakland Raiders Players Set For Big 2015 Seasons

November 20, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) passes the football against the Kansas City Chiefs during the first quarter at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Derek Carr

I’m going to start with future franchise quarterback Derek Carr to get the obvious one out the way as that’s what NFL teams are built around. Carr handled himself very well for a rookie that played under the circumstances that he had to play under this year. His final stat-line for the season was a 58.1 completion percentage, 3,270 yards, 21 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and a quarterback rating of 76.6.

Now, let’s compare that to Denver Broncos All-World quarterback Peyton Manning’s 56.7 percent, 3,739 yards 26 touchdowns, 28 interceptions and a 71.2 rating as a rookie. Both quarterbacks went 3-13 their rookie years as Carr had a far greater degree of difficulty as Manning had Marshall Faulk running the ball and Marvin Harrison to throw to. Only Raiders fans can name Carr’s receivers and for the season, he also had the NFL’s worst rushing attack.

Carr will have much better weapons around him in 2015 so I’m willing to put my money on Carr for this one. It won’t just be the weapons around him either as I expect him to really make that jump from year one to two as an NFL quarterback. So I’ll say he’s going to go from the bad column to the good column for the Raiders in 2015.

Next: Latavius Murray