The Las Vegas Raiders have long heard that Derek Carr may not be the long-term answer, but he is starting to gain some love from the national media.
The Las Vegas Raiders franchise knows they have a solid quarterback in Derek Carr, a player who has broken numerous Raiders records and has played at an MVP level at times in his career. The problem is, most national media hosts feel he is just holding down the position in Las Vegas and is not a part of the long-term solution for head coach Jon Gruden.
While Gruden and general manager Mike Mayock have gone on the record to state that Carr is their guy, the narrative remains. However, as we inch closer to the 2021 regular season, things are changing when it comes to Derek Carr and the national media, and we have seen a bunch of it in recent days.
On First Take on Wednesday, Keyshawn Johnson listed his elite quarterbacks for the 2021 season, and while four of the names were obvious, his fifth was not. Johnson listed Carr as one of his five elite, stating it has been the defense’s fault for his woes, and he did not budge off of his stance when Stephen A. Smith came back at him.
https://twitter.com/FirstTake/status/1435674008335355907
This came on the heels of Colin Cowherd telling his national audience that Carr was not only more ‘underrated than Baker Mayfield, but he is the most underrated player in the NFL.’ For a guy who tends to flip-flop when it comes to Carr, that was a pretty bold statement as well.
Raiders are in great hands with Derek Carr under center
The truth is, while Carr may not be in the same class as Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, and Tom Brady, he is extremely valuable to this franchise, and the coaching staff. He has been able to master Jon Gruden’s complicated offense since the head coach returned in 2018, and with so many new weapons, he could be in for a monster 2021 campaign.
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From here on out, Carr is only going to be judged by wins, as the franchise has used numerous resources on bringing in talent on both sides of the ball. The defense was atrocious last season, but Carr was still able to lead the Raiders to a top-10 offense, and they could be even better this year.