Raiders: Darren Waller talks new additions, Derek Carr, and ’21 season
What DC means to the Raiders
The passing offense all starts with the quarterback, and for the Raiders, that’s the man who signed a three-year extension last week – Derek Carr.
It’s hard to talk about Carr without mentioning his leadership, which is something Prasad immediately noted when speaking with Waller. Leadership isn’t his only quality that stands out to the matchup nightmare at tight end, though.
The resilience of Carr is the first thing that came to Waller’s mind. The Raiders’ star expresses Carr’s resilience by noting the number of games the quarterback has been able to play throughout his career.
While there’s been a narrative in the past that Carr misses games frequently, that story has never had truth to it. Including the playoff game in 2016 which the Raiders’ quarterback was unable to play, there have been only three contests throughout his career that the 3x Pro Bowler has missed.
Like Bisaccia, Carr is also a team-first guy. He puts his teammates before himself and always has their back, which is part of the reason he’s been so well respected throughout the league.
After Carr signed his extension, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio made a comment on the quarterback to Chris Simms, stating he felt Carr’s demeanor as a leader was overexaggerated. In Simms’ response, he claimed he felt the same way until he met Derek in person.
Simms also pointed out Carr’s leadership is very real, and we know that due to the overwhelming statements from his teammates regarding their love for him. Waller proved that to be true once again in his statements about his quarterback.
"“He’s somebody that’s going to step up and lead the team and say what needs to be said, challenge people when they need to be challenged”."
When it comes to Carr’s play on the field, Waller also had some compliments for the quarterback who helped the Raiders break the NFL record for most “last-second wins” in a season, last year.
“He’s accurate, very intelligent at the line of scrimmage, and very talented”.
Carr averages a 65% completion percentage throughout his career, backing Waller’s statement on the quarterback’s accuracy. Now reunited with the college teammate he broke Fresno State’s record books with, those qualities should shine even more.