Raiders’ Derek Carr a franchise QB? New general manager Mike Mayock sure thinks so
Oakland Raiders general manager Mike Mayock is a believer in Derek Carr.
Mayock, who was named the Raiders’ general manager in late December, gave an endorsement to the former Fresno State star who has been with the franchise five seasons.
“We’ve got a young quarterback who we think is a franchise quarterback that’s going to be 28 in March,” Mayock told reporters Wednesday at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. “We’re pretty happy with where we are, especially with our backup quarterback who we signed last year in (A.J.) McCarron. We feel like we’re pretty good at the quarterback position.”
Carr surpassed 4,000 passing yards for the first time in his career (and becoming the third QB to do it in Raiders history). His 4,049 ranked 12th in the league.
He set a career season-best in completions with 381 and broke Peyton Manning’s record for most completions through a player’s first five seasons with 1,750.
Carr has started 78 games over his career, completing 1,759 of 2,800 passes for 18,739 yards, second on the all-time franchise list behind Ken Stabler. Carr set a franchise record during the season with 332 consecutive pass attempts without an interception.
“Derek Carr is a franchise quarterback,” Mayock said. “I truly believe that. Do I also believe is it a general manager and head coach’s job to keep your eyes open to improve at any position? Sure, but I think it’s really difficult to try to improve over a franchise quarterback like the one we have in our building right now.”
What does it mean to be a ‘Raiders star?’
Mayock described what a ‘Raiders star’ is.
“When we talk about a Raiders star, we’re not talking about a star in a sense of a star in the NFL,” he said. “We’re talking about somebody we think fits what we’re looking for ideally as an Oakland Raider. Every team has it. Every team has the same philosophy and simply what we’re looking for is big, fast guys that can run and love the freaking game of football. They’re professional and love to show up everyday and they give you a full day of work and can’t wait to compete on Sunday. That’s what for us a Raiders star is.”
Importance of draft
Mayock said it’s important for the team to “hit” on draft picks after going 4-12 in 2018.
The Raiders head into the NFL draft with three first-round draft picks – two acquired in trades with the Chicago Bears for Khalil Mack and the Dallas Cowboys for Amari Cooper.
“Those two seventh-round picks are just as important as the three first-round picks,” he said.. “And the college free agents we sign after that are just as important. We’re trying to build a culture and accountability and talent and we’re trying to do all these different things. We have 10 picks that could be more or less at the end of the day, but we have 10 picks and we value all of them. We need to hit on a high percentage and we have more needs than I can even tell you about right now, which means we have to hit everywhere: free agency, draft and college free agency.”
This story was originally published February 27, 2019 at 11:13 AM.
