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- Mar 19, 2019
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Derek Carr has played his way into the Raiders record books by being the team’s starter since 2014.
He’s piloted the club to just one winning season and postseason appearance, but wasn’t able to start the playoff game after suffering a broken leg in the penultimate week of the 2016 season.
It seems like the Raiders flirt with the quarterback market every offseason, but head coach Jon Gruden and General Manager Mike Mayock have not made any moves to unseat Carr as QB1.
In a recent interview with the Raiders’ in-house TV show, Gruden praised Carr for the way he’s performed in the team’s offense.
“Derek is very underestimated. He doesn’t get much credit for how good he’s playing, but he completes a lot of passes. He changes plays at the line of scrimmage. He’s starting to make more and more plays with his legs now,” Gruden said. “W’ve put some pretty good players around Derek. I think it shows.”
Carr set a new career high with 4,103 yards passing in 2020, tossing 27 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also rushed for a career high 140 yards with three TDs, recording 16 first downs with his legs. That more than doubled his output in 2019, when he rushed for just seven first downs.
With the Raiders finishing 30th in points allowed and 25th in yards allowed last year, Carr was not the problem with Las Vegas. But the 2020 season was still only the second time the Raiders have finished with a record at or above .500 in Carr’s seven seasons as a starter. Whether or not the QB is underestimated, the team as a whole needs to improve in 2021.