Las Vegas Raiders: Biggest what-ifs of Derek Carr’s career

Las Vegas Raiders: Biggest what-ifs of Derek Carr’s career

What if Derek Carr was drafted by Minnesota?

The best scenario for Carr would have been if he was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings a few picks earlier instead of Teddy Bridgewater. The former Louisville quarterback lead the Vikings to the playoffs in his second season but a devastating knee injury before the 2016 season ended his career in Minnesota and they have relied on the likes of Sam Bradford, Case Keenum, and Kirk Cousins.

Minnesota has been one of the better teams over the past nine years but have generally been a great quarterback short of being a true contender. Some folks compare Carr to Kirk Cousins but we have never seen Carr surrounded by as much talent as Cousins or any of the other Minnesota quarterbacks have been around.

Since 2014 the Vikings have had a top five defense five times but have never had a top five offense and have only made the playoffs three times in that span.

It’s easy to see a scenario in which the Vikings draft Derek Carr, take advantage of his rookie contract and durability, and have much greater success than they ever had under any of these other quarterbacks. For Carr, he gets the benefit of playing under the same head coach for eight years and is in an organization that was smart enough to draft guys like Dalvin Cook, Justin Jefferson, Stefon Diggs, and many other stars on defense as well.

We can say with a high level of certainty that Derek Carr would have won at least a few playoff games if he was in Minnesota with that elite defense and weapons. If Minnesota had the benefit of hindsight, they certainly would not have chosen Bridgewater over Carr especially given the injury history of the journeyman QB.