Derek Carr: Top 3 Best Potential Landing Spots and Prediction
Imagine you've been working your butt off for a company for over 9 years, then the company comes to you and says, “After 9 years we finally decided to get you help so we can maybe finally earn some bonuses”. You inform them your best friend is an excellent worker and he will be great.
They hire your best friend, and they eventually fire you a few months. I don't think you'll be happy about that. You would wonder what happened to “loyalty”, when you’ve been the most consistent employee working for a bad organization. You’ve missed only two days of work during your 9-year tenure due to severe injury. You ponder where was the support the past 9 years? That’s what happened to Derek Carr and the Raiders. They just tossed him aside like garbage.
I understand this is a business, but Derek Carr is a better than average quarterback. He's an Iron Man who’s missed only two games due to injury in 9 years. He doesn’t take sacks and his completions to interceptions ratio, is one of the lowest among active Qb’s. Carr still has 3-5 years of service left in him. He hasn’t had any consistency in personnel or leadership from coaches to upper management. He’s been the glue holding this franchise up for the last 9 years who can’t seem to draft right, hire coaches who are either, proven to be unsuccessful or carry off the field issues.
Derek Carr needs a team with a good to great run game to alleviate the pressure off him. He can't do with his arm alone, then again contrary to what most people think, running the ball is still a critical component of the sport. You can’t run, eventually you won’t be able to pass effectively. If you can’t run to kill the clock and put teams away, you aren’t winning squat.
Carr would also want to go to a team with a semi decent defense and good offensive line. Wherever he goes he would also be a great leader to the incumbent.
That’s why I don’t think teams, such as the Panthers and the Saints, are a good fit for Carr even though there’s history between him and Dennis Allen, head coach of the Saints. Dennis Allen gave Carr his first start in the NFL and Carr has been a starter ever since.
Even though I don’t believe these teams have all the components as the teams I listed below, but they are still very much in play because Carr would prefer to play in the NFC. The NF would be an easier path to winning the Super Bowl, but may not have all the pieces to get there.
The Panthers and the Saints have a lot of questions at running back. Kamara is definitely looking at some sort of suspension for his part in assaulting a man in Vegas last year, during the Pro Bowl weekend. The Panthers don’t even know who their starting running backs will be. There’s also questions at the wide receiver position.
Top 3 best landing spots for Derek Carr with the traits I mentioned above are listed below along with my final prediction.
New York Jets - The Jets have a great run game, young and talented wide receiving room, great offensive line, and a great defense. This team is ready to win now. They’re a quarterback away from being a Super Bowl contender. Derek Carr can get them there with the makeup of this team.
He would be throwing to Garrett Wilson, who’s a stud, and Elijah Moore. Breece Hall is a special talent at running back and he should be back and ready to go for the start of the season. This team has all the components including a good offensive line yeah for a Qb like Derek Carr to come in and make this team a playoff contender.
Jets are in a tougher division than the other teams on the list. Derek Carr would have to face the Patriots twice a year and those match-ups don’t go well for him. Not that he wouldn’t be up for the challenge, coming from the AFC West, which is arguably one of the toughest divisions in the entire league.
I do wonder how he’d handle the constant scrutiny from being under the microscope in New York. The fans and the media can get brutal and vocal real fast. If he can handle the pressure and all that smack talking, then this would be a great fit.
Indianapolis Colts – Indy has been a Qb away from being playoff contenders for the last three years. This is another team that has a group of great young receivers Carr can grow with in Michael Pittman, Alec Pierce and tight end Jelani Woods. Jonathan Taylor is a running back work horse, a rare breed this day in age at the position, can help take the pressure off Carr.
Shane Steichen is the new coach of Indy. Steichen alone would be a great reason for Carr to join the Colts. Steichen was with Chargers during Justin Herbert’s rookie season, when Herbert threw for 4336 passing yards, 31 Td’s and had 234 rushing yards. He’s been with the Eagles the last two years, and we know how that went, helping to unleash the beast, in Jalen Hurts.
The issue with the Colts owner, Jim Irsay. He’s finicky and can’t make up his mind. He can wake up one morning with his impatience affliction and pull the plug on Carr. Irsay would be less inclined to do so with a rookie Qb. At this point it would behoove the Colts to just draft a young Qb and develop one that will stay with the organization for a while. It would save everyone the time and trouble.
They haven’t recovered at the Qb position since Andrew luck retired. Pittman and Taylor can’t keep playing with a new system and a new Qb every year, which has been the case for the last three years. This team will never develop any sort of rhythm and continuity, which translates into wins. At this rate the organization is wasting away their talents.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers – The Buccaneers need to beef up their offensive line, but they have the players on the offensive side of the ball. Mike Evans is a Hall of Famer who can go deep and leap above defenders for those 50/50 balls and Chris Godwin out of the slot. Coach Todd Bowles likes to run the ball so the offense will be balanced with Rachaad White moving the chains on the ground.
The issue with coming here would be the defense and the offensive line, both need improvements.
If Derek Carr can get a sense that the Indianapolis Colts will seriously commit to him, and he won’t have to constantly be looking over his shoulder, then that's where he should go. Shane Steichen’s arrival is great for Pittman and Pierce and should get Taylor back in the rb-1 column in terms of production.
He can also elevate Carr’s passing game. The Colts also play in a dome at least half the year, so there’s some familiarity coming from playing in Vegas. He wouldn’t have to contend with the elements of weather.
That being said, my prediction is that, if Derek Carr is up for the challenge he’ll end up with the, J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets! They have play-makers on both sides of the ball. They have a great defense and offensive line. This team is ready to win now and gives Carr the best chance to make an immediate push towards a Super Bowl. There’s a lot of moving pieces here because this does depend on Aaron Rodgers. Carr is their 1(A). This may seem like a hedge but it Rodgers goes to the Jets, expect Carr with the Saints as he’s big on familiarity, trust and he’ll play in a dome.