2020 Las Vegas Raiders Over/Under: Derek Carr 4,500 yards
2020 Las Vegas Raiders Over/Under: Derek Carr 4,500 yards
The Case for the Under
The case for the under is two-fold, the first is the most obvious and it involves a certain Heisman Trophy winner that recently signed with the Raiders. Marcus Mariota is the clear number two right now and is focusing on getting healthy after a few injury-riddled years in Tennessee.
Jon Gruden clearly loves the guy, and what he can bring to the table with his athleticism, and is likely drawing up some packages for him to keep defenses off balance. However, if Carr suffers an injury or struggles during the team’s tough start, then we can expect to see a lot of Mariota, and that would throw any chance of Carr hitting 4,500 yards out the window.
The second case for the under is simply that Carr plays well, has a great season ending with a playoff run, but still does not hit 4,500 yards. Last year, only four quarterbacks threw for more than 4,500 yards and none of them made the playoffs so it is no guarantee of team success. Patrick Mahomes would surely have hit that number if he played all 16 games, as he finished with 4,031 in 14 games, but that would still just be one in five.
This gives us hope in the sense that even if Carr goes under the 4,500-yard mark, the Raiders could still have an excellent, and well-balanced offense, and he could still have a Pro Bowl-caliber season.