The 2016 season is over for the Oakland Raiders. However, reflecting on the previous season and the team’s growth should be done before moving on. There are still a few months to discuss the Oakland Raiders off-season plans and their preparation for the next year. Here’s the quarterback group.
Oakland Raiders 2016 Season Evaluation: Quarterback
2016 Season Review
Derek Carr
Drafting Derek Carr has been the best move the Oakland Raiders have made in the 21st century. He already is the most talented quarterback the team has ever had. Jim Plunkett won a couple of Super Bowls, Daryle Lamonica had one of the best arms in the early NFL, and Kenny Stabler won a Super Bowl and was finally inducted into the Hall of Fame this past class. None of those three, or any other Raider quarterback, have the arm, leadership or character that Derek Carr possesses.
Carr was an interesting prospect coming into the 2014 draft. He had a good college career at Fresno State, and made the most of his chance at the Senior Bowl. The Raiders noticed his arm talent and leadership qualities at that game and were impressed enough that they made the decision to go with him as their quarterback. A big question for the team prior to the 2014 season was whether Carr or recently acquired quarterback Matt Schaub would begin the season as the starter. After an impressive enough preseason, Carr was named the starter, and has exceeded expectations since then.
In his second season, Derek Carr set career high numbers with 3,987 yards and 32 touchdowns. Expectations rose and prior to the 2016 season, there was plenty of debating involving him and the other top two quarterbacks from the 2014 draft, Blake Bortles and Teddy Bridgewater. Carr separated himself from Bortles completely this last season. That isn’t even a discussion anymore. Unfortunately for Bridgewater, after sustaining a horrific leg injury in practice, he hasn’t come close to seeing the field. The potential that he displayed was limited already, and now the future of his career is in question.
The Young Elite
Heading into 2016, Carr was widely regarded as one of the three best young quarterbacks in the NFL. The Raiders went through a lot of changes each year of Carr’s career, and there were still big questions and hurdles to get over before the Raiders could be considered a real team. Carr’s production was one of those questions. His quick release and lack of deep ball success raised the question of whether Carr was a “checkdown king”. His excellent 2016 season erased all of those doubts.
The first thing that stands out from Derek Carr’s 2016 campaign is the seven fourth quarter comebacks. Those seven comebacks tied for second most in one season. Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford set the top mark in this same season with eight. Carr and the Raiders offense were plagued with opposing team leads all season. The defense was atrocious at the beginning of the season and only picked up the pace slightly before spiraling back down to atrocious at the end of the year.
One of the Greats
Carr’s leadership and calm approach to the game when the speed of the match increases is right on par with the greats. Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady are two quarterbacks that are marveled at for their clutch factor and Carr has shown that he can compete like them when the game means the most.
Not only is his head on straight, but Carr’s physical quarterback skills are very impressive. His arm, decision making, and pre-snap readings have improved each year. He works hard in the offseason. You can tell this because of his improvement over three seasons. With an improved, powerful offensive line, Carr also had more time in the pocket than ever before to make great plays. Before too much credit is given to the line though, I need to make sure that people know that Derek Carr’s snappy decisions and quick release are a big contributor to the Raiders NFL-best 18 sacks allowed.
In 2016, Derek Carr averaged a career high 262 yards per game, threw for 28 touchdowns, and improved his accuracy tremendously. 6 interceptions is a tiny number compared to the 25 picks he threw in his first two seasons. Something else he struggled with in his first two seasons was deep ball accuracy. He’s always had the arm strength, but he didn’t put the ball in the right spot as much as he would’ve liked to.
It was something that he and his receivers worked on every off-season and the success. The surrounding cast compliments Carr decently, but the inconsistent running game and the dropped passes by his wide receivers deterred the offense from being a threat feared by all. Despite the rough ride, the Raiders were sitting on top of the division and needed to win their last two games to win the division. As we know, that was unable to happen since Derek Carr’s fibula was broken on an unfortunate sack when they played the Indianapolis Colts. After recovering from the leg injury, you can bet that Carr will be working extra hard to prepare for his fourth year in the league.
Matt McGloin and Connor Cook
Honestly, this excerpt will be tiny. Backup quarterbacks Matt McGloin and Connor Cook received playing time because of Derek Carr’s leg injury against the Colts. If Carr hadn’t been injured, this section would be even smaller. McGloin showed everyone why he’s just a decent backup to have and not a potential starter waiting for his chance. He missed a throw to a wide open Amari Cooper that would’ve been huge in changing the outcome of the Denver Broncos game in Week 17. That was enough for me to see that McGloin’s inaccuracy with throws is still an issue.
Connor Cook, the rookie fourth round pick out of Michigan State replaced McGloin against the Broncos and played the entire wild card playoff matchup against the Houston Texans. Cook became the first rookie to have his first start be a playoff game. Cook played well enough to give the staff confidence in him as the backup to Carr for the next couple of years. Hopefully, he doesn’t see any play time unless he’s playing garbage time.
2017 Outlook
Rehab and Raises
The two questions for Derek Carr heading into the offseason are: How much money will his contract total up to, and how long until he is fully healed? Carr has already stated that he won’t sign a team friendly deal. It was a response that came up when he was a guest on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, and Carr was obviously respectful and justified in everything he said. It was obviously difficult for him to come out and say that he didn’t plan on taking a team discount and gave several reasons why.
Basically, Carr has earned every penny of the top five quarterback contract that he will likely be seeing from the Raiders. He had a smaller rookie deal which caused him to be underpaid the first three years, and the Raiders have had plenty of time to work finances to compensate that. Carr explains that he thinks of his family, his boys, Haiti and all the charities and churches he helps and works for and wants people to know that all the work he has done is for them. Carr has earned a huge contract and even with his statement about not taking a discount, no one would be the least bit surprised if Carr and the Raiders are able to make small adjustments to the contract if it benefits the team.
You already know that Derek Carr is working hard to get his leg healed. Thankfully, the injury wasn’t bad and the surgery he had was reported as successful. The original time table for the injury was a full recovery sometime between six to eight weeks. Since the season is over, I’m sure the Raiders and Derek Carr will be cautious to make sure that the leg is at 100% when he begins his work on the field again. The Oakland Raiders have been blessed to receive Derek Carr and seeing him in the Silver and Black for the start of his prime will be exciting.
