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NFL Oakland Raiders

QB Not Oakland Raiders’ Biggest Concern Ahead Of 2015 NFL Draft

By @Kevin_Saito

Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

It must have been a slow news day around the ESPN studios. In a piece that appeared on ESPN Insider, analysts Mel Kiper and Todd McShay speculated that despite the presence of Derek Carr at the top of the QB food chain, the Oakland Raiders may select Oregon’s Marcus Mariota should they wind up with the number one overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft.

That idea makes as much sense as most everything else that has fallen out of the mouths of Kiper and McShay over the years. Which is to say it makes absolutely zero sense.

With the Raiders the only winless team left in the NFL st 0-9, they certainly appear to have a very good chance at nabbing the first overall pick in next year’s draft. But rather than select an impact player the team actually needs, maybe Alabama WR Amari Cooper, USC DT Leonard Williams or Michigan State CB Trae Waynes, McShay sees the Raiders taking a player they don’t need like Mariota or possibly even Florida State‘s Jameis Winston instead.

In trying to make his ridiculous case for the Raiders selecting Mariota or Winston, McShay referred to Carr by saying that “the scouting report is out on him, and that he’s having problems with the same areas I saw of him on tape when evaluating him for the draft: if you can get pressure in his face and lay some hits on him, he has a hard time handling it, and even though he has a strong arm, his deep accuracy isn’t consistent enough. His performance has been getting worse as the season has gone on, not better.”

It makes you wonder if McShay has actually watched Carr in action this season at all, doesn’t it?

While it’s true that Carr hasn’t had the sort of immediate success that say, Andrew Luck had when the Indianapolis Colts made the first overall pick in 2012, Carr hasn’t been rock-bottom horrible. Yes, he’s struggled at points this season, and he sometimes tries to do too much, but those are all things that can and should be expected of rookie quarterbacks adjusting to the NFL game.

Carr’s struggles have been amplified by poor play calling and game planning by the coaching staff, a lack of explosive playmakers on the offensive side of the ball, the absolute nonexistence of a running game, and a defense so inept that they routinely put the Raiders in a big hole that forces Carr to try and throw his way out of. The entire burden of Oakland’s offensive success has been placed squarely on Carr’s shoulders, and despite a lack of tangible proof, he’s responded well.

Just by watching him play, you can see that he has those intangibles you want in a franchise QB. The team got a real gem when Carr fell to them in the second round of this year’s draft, and they could have the leadership and stability with him under center they’ve lacked for so long for years to come.

For all of his struggles to this point, Carr is hitting on 61 percent of his passes and has thrown for nearly 2,000 yards and 13 touchdowns on the year. Rather than wasting a pick on a position where they’re actually pretty solid at this point, Carr needs more explosive weapons around him — regardless of what Kiper and McShay may think.

Kevin Saito is a fiction writer, sports junkie, history nerd, and NFL contributor to www.RantSports.com Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, or on Google

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