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Raiders superlatives: Predicting the ’22 season MVP, MIP, ROTY and more

By Alexander Monfreda

HENDERSON, NEVADA - JUNE 07: Quarterback Derek Carr #4 of the Las Vegas Raiders speaks during a news conference after the first day of mandatory minicamp at the Las Vegas Raiders Headquarters/Intermountain Healthcare Performance Center on June 07, 2022 in Henderson, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
HENDERSON, NEVADA - JUNE 07: Quarterback Derek Carr #4 of the Las Vegas Raiders speaks during a news conference after the first day of mandatory minicamp at the Las Vegas Raiders Headquarters/Intermountain Healthcare Performance Center on June 07, 2022 in Henderson, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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Jan 9, 2022; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) lines up at wide receiver during the second half against the Los Angeles Chargers at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports /

Predicting the superlatives for the Raiders 2022 season

Why Carr will win MVP, Reason No. 2

Carr’s deep ball abilities

One area of Carr’s game that has consistently taken criticism in the past is his deep ball. Some have referred to him as “Captain check down” while others have claimed he’s struggled with accuracy deep. In any event, neither of the two has any truth behind them.

From the span 2016-to 2018, Derek Carr was tied third in deep ball accuracy+ (a measurement of hitting a deep receiver in stride), being bested by only Russell Wilson and Drew Brees in this timeframe. In 2018 specifically, Carr was in a league of his own, recording a league-high 52.3 completion percentage on throws 20+ yards downfield. Both of these numbers were recorded by Pro Football Focus.

In 2019, Carr had continued success going deep. Although the completion percentage from 20+ out dipped a bit, he was one of two quarterbacks to not throw an interception from this distance, being the only one to do so without an interception being dropped. Furthermore, although the accuracy from 20+ dipped to the middle of the pack, he remained top-three in completion percentage from 30-35 yards out.

Now with a speedster in Henry Ruggs, Carr returned to the top-10 in deep attempts for the ’20 season. With this, success continued to follow. Per Sports Info Solutions, Carr was T-3 in on-target percentage when doing deep, with the third-highest touchdown percent when throwing a deep pass.

In 2021, Carr connected on more deep passes than any quarterback not named Tom Brady, throwing more deep passes than anybody outside of the Tampa Bay quarterback. After such a year, Carr overtook reigning MVP, Aaron Rodgers, on NFL Network’s top-10 deep ball passers of 2021.

With deep threats on the outside such as Davante Adams and Demarcus Robinson, look for that deep ball ability to shine as bright as ever.

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