Getty Jon Gruden & Mike Mayock of the Las Vegas Raiders.
After a productive free agency, the Las Vegas Raiders will now put their focus on the NFL Draft. General manager Mike Mayock did a great job with his first draft and should do even better in his second go around. He played it relatively safe in 2019 and didn’t make any big moves, but that might not be the case this year.
The Raiders obviously believe in Derek Carr as the moves they made would indicate that he’s going to be the starter in 2020. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they think he’ll be the starter past this season. According to Matt Miller of Bleacher Report, NFL insiders believe that the Raiders could make a big move at quarterback in the draft:
Even after adding Marcus Mariota to work behind Derek Carr (or compete with him), many insiders around the league believe head coach Jon Gruden might not be able to help himself with this quarterback class.
“I would say it’s unlikely, but you can’t ever rule anything out when it comes to Jon,” one longtime scout who has worked with Gruden before said. “He loves quarterbacks and thinks he can get the best out of all of them. Would it surprise me if he fell in love with Jordan Love or Justin Herbert and made a move to get them? Not one bit.”
The Raiders haven’t really been linked to Justin Herbert at all, but this would be far from the first time that Jordan Love has been mentioned as a potential target.
The Derek Carr Conundrum
If the Raiders decide they want to draft a quarterback, that means they don’t see a future with Carr. It’s unclear if they don’t have faith in the quarterback, but Miller posed an important question:
The Raiders, who own picks Nos. 12 and 19 in the first round, have plenty of capital to move up if they so desire. One rival general manager summed it up like this: Is Carr good enough to win games?
“At some point, they have to look at the cost-benefit of Carr. He’s not a bad quarterback, but he’s not a great quarterback. You’re paying him $21 million, but do you really think you’re winning a ring with him? If you think you have a chance with one of these rookies, you have to try.”
Carr has put up some strong numbers with the team, but he only has one winning season. Of course, that’s not all his fault. However, at a certain point, a change could be made. Like the report previously mentioned, Gruden loves quarterbacks. He could get really excited about the idea of having a shiny new toy to play with.
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Heard This All Before
While Miller’s report does hold some merit, this is the same thing heard last year. From Kyler Murray to Dwayne Haskins, there were reports that indicated the Raiders were ready to draft a quarterback. At this point, a “believe it when I see it” approach is probably best. Carr is a good quarterback who got better in his second year under Gruden. The team is likely to give him a top-notch wide receiver to work with in 2020 and that’ll give them a better idea of what Carr can do. If he fails, then they know they need to make a change.
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