Dennis Allen ‘firmly committed’ to Matt Schaub
The Oakland Raiders were clearly big winners in this year’s draft, with the first two selections of Khalil Mack and Derek Carr being headliners. Carr has all the tools to be a top-notch starter in the pros, as he overcame a terrible offensive line and some pretty poor coaching in order to put up some huge numbers at Fresno State. Possessing as many intangibles as any quarterback in this year’s class, Carr put the Bulldogs on his back with Green Bay Packers WR Davante Adams as his main sidekick. Carr has the best arm strength in the class, good accuracy, plenty of athletic ability and speed, and he knows how to make good decisions by curtailing the number of interceptions he throws. His footwork is terrible, though, and his lack of hip movement means that his throws all come from his arm. That’s impressive in itself given his arm strength, but it leads him to have high release points, causes the ball to sail on him at times, and he also doesn’t have a strong enough base when pressured (though he does a good job of limited his turnovers when under pressure and faced quick pressure in college).
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His lack of polish can be found when watching his technique, and it’s clear that while Carr is a great quarterback prospect, it’s best for him to learn from the bench. The Raiders have the perfect opportunity to do this with Matt Schaub in the fold after he was acquired from the Houston Texans, and hopefully he can bounce back after an abysmal, anomaly of a season last year.
According to ESPN’s Jim Trotter, only something “catastrophic” will allow Carr to start this upcoming season, as Raiders head coach Dennis Allen is “firmly committed” to starting Schaub after trading for the veteran passer. This news should surprise absolutely nobody, and it confirms that the only two things that will allow Carr to start as a rookie are another implosion by Schaub or an injury to the former Texans starter.