Fresno State Bulldogs quarterback Derek Carr (4) prepares to throw a pass against the Utah State Aggies in the third quarter at Bulldog Stadium. The Bulldogs defeated the Aggies 24-17. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
The Houston Texans will almost certainly pull a quarterback with the first pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, and the focus seems to be on Blake Bortles (reportedly the guy Bill O’Brien wants) and Johnny Manziel (reportedly the guy owner Bob McNair wants). Since O’Brien probably didn’t join the Texans without the assurance that he would be able to handpick his own franchise QB, the final call will most likely be O’Brien’s. Despite the reports heavily linking Bortles to the Texans, I still have them taking Teddy Bridgewater, who is the best quarterback in the draft class and by a good distance (he’s so much more polished than anyone else in the class).
Derek Carr is usually the fourth-ranked QB in the “big four” of the draft prospects at the position in this year’s class, and he isn’t expected to be the pick for the Texans. There’s always a chance that the Texans could go for David Carr’s younger brother, and they’ll have better talent surrounding this Carr, who is actually my No. 2-ranked QB due to his howitzer of an arm and underrated decision-making.
Some people are concerned that the Fresno State Bulldogs offense hasn’t prepared Carr well enough for the next level, because he mostly ran out of the shotgun in a spread-style offense and threw an abundant amount of screens (Bortles also threw an awful lot of screens, so that’s a moot argument if you base your evaluations off of straight film study or deep analytics, which is the right way to go anyway).
Carr said this to Texans official site beat writer Drew Dougherty about preparing for the draft, “Really just trying to prove to these teams that I can play in their systems. Prove to them that I can lead their franchise. There’s so much that goes into the quarterback position, with such little details, that I’m trying to show them ‘Hey, I take it very seriously.'”
He stated that he’s been working hard with his older brother and is focusing on taking snaps under center, because that’s one of the bigger concerns related to his draft stock.