QB Derek Carr Will Have More Freedom in New Raiders Offense
Derek Carr. Line of scrimmage. Freedom. Three distinct words make up the much ballyhooed topic for the Oakland Raiders’ 2017 season. Fans and even some analyst have been clamoring for it. Even offensive coordinator Todd Downing, who’ll make the call on whether it happens, spoke of it. But will it happen?
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Potentially.
“There’s been a lot made of his command of the line of scrimmage,” said Raiders offensive coordinator Todd Downing after his promotion to play-caller. “There is certainly going to be opportunities for Derek to do that, but that’s not something I feel we’ll even have to get into until we’re much further into this offense and into training camp.”
Downing, who said the changes to the offense would be subtle while the verbiage remains the same, isn’t averse to Carr gaining more traction at the LOS. It’s something to watch for as camp begins to intensify. But first, the 36-year-old coordinator wants to see the Raiders’ franchise quarterback become more vocal about game planning.
“I think my relationship with him is something that’s going to give him the opportunity to voice his opinions and I look forward to him really taking charge of expressing his thoughts on the offense,” Downing said.
It’s the ultimate what-if amongst RaiderNation. What if the Raiders give Carr the green light to become on-field strategist at the LOS? Can he ascend to true master of the game like the Manning brothers? Can he improvise and adapt like Aaron Rodgers? If Carr succeeds, he’d further cement himself in Raiders’ lore.
Fans want it to happen as they perceived the offense was more explosive when Carr was “calling plays”. Truth of the matter is this: Carr did audible at the LOS. However, he changed the play to another one designed by then-OC Bill Musgrave. Get it straight, Carr doesn’t design plays willy-nilly. (The exception was the game in Mexico City where the pass play to Jalen Richard “was drawn in the grass”.) The architect of the offense is either the OC or the head coach.
The only difference this go-around would be Carr having much more input in the game plan and potentially, the play design/concept. That was a no-go when Musgrave was the architect. And in a sense, it worked. To put it another way, not so much as he’s no longer the OC.
If the LOS freedom flops? Carr has been doing quite well without it. And Downing isn’t one to let his QB flail in the wind. In fact, Downing notes he’s very flexible.
“If we’re inefficient or we fail to live up to expectations in a certain concept, then I’m going to figure out a way to tinker with it and make it work. And if I can’t make it work, we simply won’t do it anymore,” Downing said.
That should ring golden to the ears of RaiderNation, if Downing doesn’t give Carr LOS freedom right out of the gates. It leaves the door wide open for it to happen sometime down the road if it doesn’t.
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