Rumors are already swirling around Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr and whether or not he will be the quarterback for this team moving forward.
While there are those out there who will point to everything wrong with the Las Vegas Raiders keeping Derek Carr in 2020 and beyond, let us look at the facts. This Raiders team is heading in the right direction, and it is my belief that Carr should be the franchise quarterback moving forward for many reasons.
First, he set career highs in passing yards (4,054 yards) and completion percentage (70.4%), according to pro-football-reference in his second year under Jon Gruden. Also, Carr has grit, leadership, and a veteran presence, three qualities that are highly important to Gruden and his offense.
Not to mention he was working with no true WR1 last season, which is incredible considering the numbers he put up.
Looking at the league, most of the better quarterbacks have a true WR1 on the roster, and that goes a long way in helping them get the most out of their talent. Not saying Derek Carr deserves to be among the greats of the game, however, I do think he deserves a season with a receiver that will take the load off of him.
Everyone was saying 2019 would be Carr’s make or break season, but that was with Antonio Brown and a healthy Tyrell Williams. Give Carr a reboot at the wide receiver position and if he can’t make it happen, then we can all talk about moving on from him. However, throwing a rookie quarterback into the mix could set the Raiders back years while he develops.
Carr had multiple moving parts around him all season. First, the loss of Antonio Brown, a superstar receiver who was supposed to give this offense some explosion, but his off field issues caught up to him and was later released. Then after the loss of Brown, Carr had to deal with multiple receivers coming and going.
Ryan Grant and JJ Nelson were two receivers that could contribute, however, both leaving the team early in the season. Mayock tried to add some talent with Zay Jones and Trevor Davis, but Davis was released after the game with his horrific fumble, and Jones hasn’t proven to be anything more than a depth guy.
So how do the Raiders get better at wide receiver?