Raiders Player Drops Revealing Comments About Derek Carr’s Leadership

Players who were with the Raiders in 2018 are very familiar with how quickly Derek Carr rumors can spread. For the 2019 rookies, they’re getting their first taste. Since the end of the team’s season, the Raiders have been linked to the likes of Tom Brady, Jameis Winston, Ryan Tannehill and a number of draft prospects. Those rumblings aren’t likely to stop until after the draft.

Based on what players are saying, Carr has the support of the team and they respect him. Fullback Alec Ingold recently had high praise for the quarterback.

“Derek [Carr] is the most relentless leader I’ve ever been around in any facet of my life,” Ingold said on Eddie Borsilli’s Yards Per Attempt podcast. “Just showing up hours before everybody else… he has meetings, before the meetings… He’s always in the film room. Seeing the work that that guy does, it makes me want to be better for him.”

Ingold was one of the biggest bright spots from a very impressive rookie class in 2019 and he clearly would like to see Carr stay under center for 2020.

Raiders Need to Be Better for Carr

After three straight years where Carr hasn’t lived up to the promise he showed in 2016, it’s really easy to put all the blame on the quarterback. However, Ingold thinks the team needs to step up and that will elevate Carr.

“He’s taking a lot of flack right now, but a lot of us know we have to be better for him – we need to step our game up with him because he’s pushing the envelope constantly,” Ingold said.

Carr hasn’t been close to perfect over the last few seasons, but he’s far from being the worst quarterback the team could have. It also doesn’t help that he hasn’t had a chance to stay in an offensive system for very long and he hasn’t exactly had the best wide receiver help in the NFL. Regardless, the quarterback can’t solely rely on the talent around him to make plays. If he’s still the Raiders’ quarterback in 2020, it’s going to be a make or break year for him.

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Odds of Derek Carr Returning Increasing?

Depending on the day, Carr’s status as the Raiders’ quarterback is a mystery. One second, the team is going to ride with him in 2020, the next second, the team is ready to go after Tom Brady. The fact of the matter is that the Raiders probably haven’t decided yet. There’s still a lot of time before free agency starts and an even longer time before the draft is here. However, Raiders insider for The Athletic Vic Tafur believes that the odds are increasing that the team stays put with Carr:

“I wrote last week that my number was 65 percent that he is. I have talked to some people since then and my number is up to 70. Gruden is very hard to predict, so I just this second talked myself out of 75.”

75% is a pretty high number. It seems like the most likely scenario for the Raiders is that they keep Carr in 2020 and give him one last shot to prove himself. That said, the possibility remains that the team finds a replacement before the season.

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