Oakland Raiders to Show Their Carr Off in 2015

Oct 12, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) throws a pass against the San Diego Chargers during the second quarter at O.co Coliseum. The San Diego Chargers defeated the Oakland Raiders 31-28. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

Something to Building Around

Carr continued his hot start with a rookie record with eight TD passes in the first five games of his career. He was second to Robert Griffin III in completion percentage in his first four games as a rookie at 63.2 percent. Carr didn’t stay at that rate as the Raiders struggled but never lost his confidence, flashing at times and coming back around by the end of the season instead of cracking.

And in Week 6, he threw four TDs to tie for the second-most by a rookie in a single game. Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks and Andrew Luck of the Indianapolis Colts each did it in 2012. Carr completed 58.1 percent of his passes, fourth best for rookies with at least 500 attempts.

His 12 interceptions in 599 pass attempts tell you he avoided the costly mistakes rookies usually don’t. Of the 12 NFL rookies in history with at least 450 attempts, Carr has the fewest interceptions. He also avoided sacks as according to Pro Football Focus, he was sacked only 10.3 percent of the times he is pressured, the lowest percentage of all NFL quarterbacks in 2014. Something that led to his penchant for short passes, which he was criticized for even if a large majority of them came after having little to no time in the pocket for plays to develop.

Carr was also great in the red zone, leading the Raiders to an NFL-best 72.4 touchdown percentage (21-of-29) in there. He often helped his cause with 21 touchdowns passes to tie him for fifth all-time among NFL rookies. All this to show his teammates, the coaching staff and Raider Nation the he is something to build around.

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