Nearly half the NFL will be searching for a new starting quarterback this off-season. That includes the Las Vegas Raiders, who have already decided to move on from Derek Carr. But just how hard will it be to replace Carr? Harder than you think.
In a recent article by Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus, he wrote about every team’s biggest need going into the offseason. For the Raiders, that was the quarterback position, of course.
But Monson made the point that it’s going to be tough for the Raiders to replace Carr, who has routinely graded out as an above-average passer:
“When the Las Vegas Raiders decided to unceremoniously dump Derek Carr as their starter, they moved to the front of the queue for teams in need of a new quarterback.
Carr has been an average to above-average starter for the Raiders, grading inside the top five over a season just once (2016), and the league trend is to eschew average to search for greatness. It remains to be seen where they find greatness in this current landscape, but the Raiders figure to be one of the league’s most aggressive teams in pursuit of that solution this offseason.”
We can debate if Carr was average or above average, but what’s clear is that it’s not good enough in the AFC West. With Patrick Mahomes dominating the division, they can’t afford to settle for average. And with Justin Herbert on the brink of being an elite quarterback, the Raiders have to find someone who can go toe-to-toe with those passers.
With Tom Brady now off the table due to his recent retirement, it looks more and more likely that the Raiders will be picking a quarterback in Round 1. Who will that be? We’ve got more than two months to figure that out.
