With all the noise surrounding the team moving on from Derek Carr, the Las Vegas Raiders did the opposite, surrounding him with talent.
It has been six years since the then-Oakland Raiders selected Fresno State quarterback Derek Carr in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft. The brother of a former No. 1 overall selection, Carr entered the league with high expectations, but was supposed to learn under Matt Schaub as a rookie.
Instead, Carr took the reins as a rookie, earning the starting job for the team’s Week 1 matchup on the road against the New York Jets, a game I just happened to be at. Since then, Carr has put his stamp on the franchise’s record book, but outside of a 12-3 record before getting hurt in 2016, the losses have been mounting.
You can choose any reason why this has happened, whether it has been inconsistency at head coach and offensive coordinator, the team moving on from his weapons, or some believe he just is not a winning quarterback back. In 2018, Jon Gruden returned as head coach, and while the noise has been that the team would move on from Carr, that has not happened yet.
Moving into a new city, new stadium, and with high expectations in 2020, Carr has to put his best season together if he wants to remain at the helm of the franchise. One thing is for sure, this offseason was the best-case scenario for Carr entering his seventh season as the starter.