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 Jacksonville or Cleveland?

In our actual timeline, Derek Carr was chosen by the then Oakland Raiders with the 36th overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft. This was probably the best Raiders draft class in the last 20 plus years as they also drafted Khalil Mack, Gabe Jackson, Justin Ellis, Shelby Harris, and TJ Carrie.

All of these guys are good to great NFL players that are still active in the league today and that of course includes Derek Carr.

Carr was the 4th quarterback chosen after Blake Bortles, Johnny Manziel, and Teddy Bridgewater who all went in the first round. The question we ask today is what if any of those teams had chosen Carr instead of their quarterbacks as he is miles ahead of all of those guys.

The first team he could have ended up on was the Jacksonville Jaguars who took Bortles third overall. The Jaguars struggled under Bortles though they did have one great season in 2017 where they had the fifth ranked offense and second ranked defense in the NFL.

It’s easy to see a scenario where Carr replaces Bortles and finally has the benefit of an elite defense and takes the Jaguars to the promised land. He may still suffer from some of the organizational instability but most of that seemed to stem from the lack of a true franchise quarterback.

Ending up on the Browns where Johnny Manziel was selected is a nightmare what if for Carr. After Manziel flamed out in tremendous fashion, the Browns went on to win four games over a three-year span including an 0-16 season in 2017.

They have since improved as an organization but it’s hard to see Carr surviving four years under Mike Pettine or Hue Jackson as the head coach. For as bad as the Raiders have been during Carr’s time in Oakland and Las Vegas, it never got as bad as it did in Cleveland during that time.