New Raiders GM Mike Mayock has high praise for quarterback Derek Carr
A few months ago, it seemed Derek Carr had a foot out of the door as the Oakland Raiders’ quarterback (and now we can finally call them the Oakland Raiders again, at least for another year).
Then coach Jon Gruden’s scheme seemed to take, Carr had a very good second half of the season and it doesn’t seem anymore like Carr is going to get dumped.
Things can change, especially over the draft preparation process. Maybe the Raiders fall in love with a prospect who is available with the fourth overall pick they own. But their new general manager had some kind words for Carr and made it seem the team still views Carr as its quarterback of the future.
Raiders believe in Derek Carr
Mike Mayock has been a staple at the NFL scouting combine for a long time, but that has been as an NFL Network draft analyst. Now he is Gruden’s general manager, after the Raiders hired him this offseason.
Via Scott Bair of NBC Sports Bay Area, Mayock said the Raiders feel good about the quarterback position. Then he used the “F” word for Carr.
“Derek Carr is a franchise quarterback,” Mayock said. “I truly believe that.”
Because of all the negativity with Carr in the first half of last season, and Carr’s large contract, there will still be many mock drafts over the next couple months that have the Raiders taking someone like Kyler Murray or Dwayne Haskins at No. 4. And that might happen. But Mayock made it clear the Raiders like Carr.
“Is it a coach and GM’s job to always keep your eye out for ways to improve the position? Yes,” Mayock said, via Mike Jones of USA Today. “But it’s really hard to improve on Derek Carr.”
Carr played well in second half of season
Everyone tuned out the Raiders early last season, unless it was to take another opportunity to joke about Gruden. Most people missed that Carr was at very least an above-average quarterback for most of the season.
Over a 10-game stretch from mid-October through Week 16, Carr threw 12 touchdowns with no interceptions. Most of that was after the Raiders traded his best receiver, Amari Cooper. Carr had very little talent around him, and still played pretty well. He had a 99.6 passer rating in that stretch.
The Raiders will be one of the most interesting teams in this year’s draft, with three first-round picks and a lot of holes to fill. If you believe Mayock, the Raiders don’t believe quarterback is one of their needs.
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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
