Derek Carr threw for over 4,000 yards last season, and in 2019, he has a brand new cast of weapons that could make him an elite fantasy football option.
Derek Carr is one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL, and in 2019, he will have the weapons around him to become one of the elite fantasy football options as well. The Raiders have the talent around him on the offensive side of the ball to pick apart defenses on a weekly basis, and Carr has proven that when he has time, he can be one of the more exciting signal-callers in football.
In Matthew Berry’s latest 2019 fantasy football projections, he listed the top-30 quarterbacks in the NFL this upcoming season. To find Carr’s name, you had to look pretty far down on the list, as he came in at No. 23 overall, behind the likes of Jimmy Garoppolo, Jameis Winston, Lamar Jackson, and Josh Allen to name a few.
To list those four guys above Carr is pretty laughable, as are quarterbacks like Kyler Murray and Mitchell Trubisky. The only quarterback listed after Carr are Sam Darnold, Andy Dalton, Matthew Stafford, Nick Foles, Dwayne Haskins, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and Marcus Mariota.
While some names at the top are agreeable, like Patrick Mahomes, Ben Roethlisberger, Deshaun Watson, and Andrew Luck to name a few, there is no reason why Carr cannot be in the top-10 by the time the season ends. Baker Mayfield, Cam Newton, and Murray are listed in the top-10, and based on the talent around Carr, he should be able to sneak up these rankings in a hurry.
Antonio Brown is an automatic 100-catch wide receiver, and J.J. Nelson and Tyrell Williams can beat a team deep at any time. In addition, rookie Hunter Renfrow could prove to be a beast in the slot, while budding tight end Darren Waller has all the physical skills needed to be an elite pass-catching tight end in the NFL.
When you add to that the fact that the Raiders offense line will be much better in 2019, thanks to the addition of Trent Brown at right tackle, and Richie Incognito at left guard, replacing the departed Kelechi Osemele. Incognito is not an improvement over Osemele, but Brown certainly is at right tackle, and Carr now has legitimate bookends at the position entering Year No. 2 in Jon Gruden’s offense.
Remember, this is a guy who threw for over 4,000 yards while completing nearly 70 percent of his passes last season, while he was harassed every time he dropped back. It is only the second time he has entered a season in the same offense in his career, and the last time, 2016, he nearly won the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award.
The bottom line is, Carr has proven he can play an MVP level in the past, and in 2019, he will have the best compliment of weapons he has ever had in his NFL career. The Raiders offense is going to surprise a lot of people in 2019, and for Carr, he will prove to be one of the better fantasy football quarterbacks in the entire NFL.