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It’s been a wild ride for Derek Carr through the first eight years of his career. The Las Vegas Raiders have gone through several coaches, some massive controversies, three general managers and a move to a different state in just the time Carr has been there. There might not be a quarterback in the NFL who has had to deal with as much outside noise.
When things were at their most stable in 2016, Carr finished third in MVP voting and led the Raiders to their first playoff berth in over a decade. Unfortunately for him, the chaos quickly came back and his play suffered. Las Vegas missed the playoffs for four straight seasons before getting back in 2021. Carr was a big reason the Raiders were able to pull off the improbable playoff run from last season.
Now, Carr has received a big contract extension and got Josh McDaniels as head coach. Plus, the team traded for one of his best friends and arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL in Davante Adams. 2022 is set up to be Carr’s best season yet and there’s at least one notable analyst who believes that the quarterback’s best years are still in front of him.
Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd has always been a staunch defender of Carr and decided to take his praise of the quarterback a step further. Cowherd believes that Carr is destined for the Hall of Fame.
“He’s going to make the Hall of Fame,” Cowherd said on Wednesday’s episode of “The Herd.”
Carr has yet to win a playoff game so he’s got a lot of work to do before he can be in the Hall of Famer discussion. Cowherd stated his case as to what makes the Raiders quarterback special.
“Carr doesn’t miss games, he’s productive, and he carried a tire fire to the playoffs. He will have his sixth coach in his ninth year with the Raiders,” Cowherd said. ” … In the last three years, the Raiders have been nothing but nonsense: bad O-line, GM fired, coach fired, Henry Ruggs disaster. It’s been a mess.
“But in the last three years of chaos for the Raiders, Derek Carr completes 69% of his throws, 71-31 TD-INT ratio (2.5-to-1) and a passer rating at 98.5. He’s much better in all of those categories than Matt Ryan, better completion percentage and passer rating than Kyler Murray, and higher completion percentage than Matthew Stafford.”
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Cowherd Stirs Controversy
To say that Carr is destined to be a Hall of Famer is certainly a hot take. If he were to retire today, there’s no chance he’d make it. That said, he’s only 31 and quarterbacks are starting to play into their 40s. While anything is possible now that Carr finds himself in a stable situation with elite weapons, many pushed back on the idea that he’ll be a Hall of Famer in the future.
There were also those who aren’t ready to jump to the idea of Carr being a Hall of Famer but agreed with what Cowherd said about him.
What Carr Needs to Do to Get Into the Hall of Fame
Getting into the Hall of Fame isn’t easy, especially for Raiders players. The greatest quarterback in franchise history is Ken Stabler and it took over 30 years after he retired to receive the honor. Rich Gannon won an MVP with the team and Jim Plunkett won two Super Bowls but neither of them has even gotten close to getting into the Hall of Fame.
The best way Carr can change the narrative about him is to win more games. It’s not entirely his fault the Raiders haven’t won a playoff game during his career but the Hall of Fame isn’t adding a quarterback who hasn’t even sniffed a Super Bowl. At least one Super Bowl win would certainly get the conversation started about Carr’s possibilities as a Hall of Famer. If he can’t win the big game, he at least needs to get the Raiders close and have some big seasons where he throws for 40+ touchdowns. If he can’t do that, it’s hard to imagine that he’ll get a serious look at the Hall of Fame. Fortunately for him, he is now set up to change the narrative about him.
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