When it comes to divisions ranked by their quarterbacks, the Oakland Raiders and the AFC West are at the top of the NFL as a group.
The Oakland Raiders made the decision to stick with Derek Carr for the 2019 NFL season, despite all the rumors that Jon Gruden was in love with the quarterbacks coming out in the NFL Draft. Holding three first round picks, the Raiders could have easily moved up and got whoever they wanted, but they made a statement by not only passing on a quarterback in the first round, but with all nine of their draft picks.
That was the smart move for the Raiders organization, as Carr is a legitimate franchise quarterback, and finally has the kind of weapons he needs to succeed in the NFL. Back in 2016, he was in line to be the league’s Most Valuable Player before breaking his leg, so it is not like he does not have a track record of success at the NFL level.
In a recent piece by Adam Schein from NFL.com, he rates each NFL division based on the quarterbacks. Not surprising to anybody who follows the AFC West, the division came in at No. 1, thanks to a trio of signal-callers who should all have monster seasons in 2019.
Schein obviously begins the piece by speaking about the two quarterbacks he feels are the best in the division, Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, and Philip Rivers from the Los Angeles Chargers. Mahomes is coming off an MVP season in year one as the starter, and Rivers led his Chargers to a 12-4 record last season, and does not appear to be aging.
When it comes to the Raiders, Schein speaks about Carr and the fact that he feels he is going to flourish in year two under Jon Gruden. Remember, this is a guy who completed nearly 70 percent of his passes last season, went over 4,000 yards for the first time in his career, all the while being harassed every time he dropped back to pass.
Joe Flacco rounds out the division in his first season with the Denver Broncos, as he looks to try and bring some stability to the quarterback position. Overall, this is a fantastic collection of talented signal-callers, and there should be no shortage of passing yards coming out of the division in 2019.