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The Las Vegas Raiders have put a lot of faith in Derek Carr this offseason. Jarrett Stidham is the only other quarterback on the active roster and he’s never started a regular season game. The team must believe in Carr’s ability to not get hurt throughout the course of the season.
Nick Mullens was the most experienced backup in training camp but he was traded to the Minnesota Vikings. Undrafted rookie Chase Garbers stuck around for all of training camp and played a lot of preseason snaps but was waived as part of the Raiders’ final roster cuts. Luckily, he cleared waivers and Las Vegas is bringing him back on the practice squad, per Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network.
Garbers spent five years at California and started 33 games. He’s got plenty of experience for a rookie. He’s limited physically but you have to be smart to play football at Cal. Head coach Josh McDaniels values smart quarterbacks which is likely a reason why Garbers is getting the chance to stick around. He’ll likely stick around on the practice squad for most of the season but could get called up from time to time.
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Are Raiders Relying on Carr Too Much?
Under former head coach Jon Gruden, the Raiders always made sure to have a very good backup quarterback. Former No. 2 overall pick Marcus Mariota was with the team the past two seasons. However, he was mostly irrelevant as Carr hasn’t missed a start since 2017. He continues to prove that he’s one of the most durable quarterbacks in the NFL and has played through injury.
While Carr rarely gets injured, he has gotten hurt before. The Raiders are putting a lot of faith in his ability to stay healthy. Stidham looked good in preseason and training camp but the team can’t be thrilled with the idea of him starting games. Hopefully, the team will never need to find out.
Carr Predicted to Throw for 5,000 Yards
Expectations are the highest they’ve been for Carr since he was heading into the 2017 season. He ended up faltering that years but that shouldn’t be the case in 2022. He’s coming off an excellent season and the Raiders added Davante Adams, who is the best wide receiver in the NFL. A Raiders quarterback has never thrown for 5,000 yards in a season and ESPN’s Dan Graziano believes that Carr could be the first:
First of all, he had 4,804 last year (yes, really, and he didn’t have Davante Adams to throw to. He still has Hunter Renfrow and Darren Waller, plus a couple of pass-catching running backs in addition to Adams, who’s quite determined to prove he wasn’t just an Aaron Rodgers creation.
There are question marks on the offensive line, and I don’t want to diminish the significance. But I expect these Raiders to throw, throw and throw some more, and it’s not some major stretch to think the addition of Adams to the receiving corps and Josh McDaniels to the head coach’s offense could add at least 196 yards to Carr’s 2021 total.
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