Las Vegas Raiders 2020 early season grades: The Offense
Las Vegas Raiders 2020 early season grades: The Offense
Quarterback – Derek Carr
Just about any way you slice it Derek Carr has been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL this season. Carr has lead a team with a defense ranked in the 20s with a revolving cast of wide receivers to a 3-2 record and he has been the driving force behind each of those victories.
This is not to say that Carr does not have weapons around him, but he is doing an incredible job of distributing the ball to the weapons he does have. 12 players have caught a pass from Carr and eight have caught at least one touchdown with the targets being distributed fairly evenly with the exception of Darren Waller.
In terms of where he stands among the rest of the NFL, Carr is first in completion percentage, 7th in yards, 6th in touchdowns, 4th in QB rating, 6th in QBR, and with a jab at his critics who call him a check down artist, he is 9th in yards per attempt. Carr is currently on pace for 4,600 yards and 35 touchdowns which would be career highs in both categories by a significant margin.
The only knock on Carr so far has been his fumbles in the pocket, and that is something he will need to clean up, especially against teams with fierce pass rushers that will try to exploit that potential weakness. As the offensive line gets healthy that should be less of a concern but it is still something Carr will have to improve on for the Raiders to keep winning.