The Oakland Raiders have a ton of holes to fill this offseason, but according to Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock, quarterback is not one of them.
One day after new Oakland Raiders general manager Mike Mayock stated that Derek Carr was a franchise quarterback, head coach Jon Gruden doubled down. In his interview before the media at the NFL Combine, Gruden spoke glowingly about Carr, and hopefully the conversation about them moving in another direction at quarterback can be put to rest.
Speaking with the media, Gruden did not mince words when discussing who his quarterback is for the 2019 season, and possibly beyond. That man is Derek Carr, who at only 27-years old, is on the brink of being the most prolific quarterback in team history, statistically.
Carr will be entering his sixth season as the starting quarterback in Oakland this season, and while he has led the team to only one winning season, he has not had the best supporting cast around him. In fact, he played behind an offensive line riddled with injuries last season, as well as having two rookie tackles, and very little weapons to choose from in the passing game.
Still, he was able to put up career-high numbers in passing yards, and completion percentage, while mastering a very hard offense in Gruden’s first year back on the sidelines. Gruden committed to DC on Thursday.
Michael Gehlken from the Las Vegas Review-Journal tweeted this out on Thursday.
Jon Gruden reiterated what Mayock said yesterday, that “Derek Carr is our franchise quarterback. Let me make that clear.”
— Scott Bair (@ScottBairNFL) February 28, 2019
For an organization that has seen so many stars come and go over the past few seasons, including Khalil Mack in 2018, the commitment to Carr is actually refreshing. There are so many ways the Raiders could go with their first round picks in April, and holding three of them, they could improve this roster immensely early in round one.
Carr is a special player, and the Raiders are wise to build this thing around him. While guys like Dwayne Haskins and Kyler Murray were certainly dominant in their only season as a starting quarterback at the college level, this team needs a veteran to lead them into their new era of football, and Carr is certainly the man to do it.