Las Vegas Raiders: One question for each offensive position in 2021
Quarterback: Can Derek Carr lead this team to the playoffs in his contract year?
One of the biggest criticisms that many have of Derek Carr is that he has a career losing record, and has only made the playoffs once in his career. It’s important to remember that Carr isn’t the only factor in that equation, though.
In his seven-year career, Carr has gone through four different head coaches and three different offensive coordinators. He’s also been through a team rebuild that took place halfway through his career. With this constant change, Carr’s overall record was bound to take a hit and it did.
But even though his record may make him seem like a failure, his consistent stats and playmaking ability show that he is the team’s true franchise quarterback.
In his three years with Jon Gruden and Greg Olsen, Carr has been able to grow into a very talented quarterback, with the 2020 version of Carr being the best version we’ve seen since 2016. In year four, Carr will try to put up even better numbers than he did in 2020, and he’ll need to if he wants to lead a top ten offense and take this team to the playoffs, especially if the Las Vegas defense doesn’t improve.
If he does both of those things, then it would make sense for Carr to get a contract extension after the season ends. After all, he said he wants to be a Las Vegas Raider until he retires. If he capitalizes on this season and produces, he may be able to do just that.
Answer: Yes, he has all of the tools to get it done.