Why Derek Carr is the Most Underrated QB in the NFL
As a Raider fan, these are the kinds of questions that my friends ask me whenever we talk football. Every time we get into a heated debate, it’s the first thing that always comes up. “He’s trash”, “he’s not a franchise QB”, “if he was good, then he’d have a card on Madden Ultimate Team”. Yes. The last one was an actual sentence that came out of my friend’s mouth.
Time and time again, I have to plead my case as to why I know he’s a great football player. It doesn’t make it easier that he’s never won a playoff game, or that my friend is also a 49er fan. But one thing that we can both agree on, is that Derek Carr doesn’t get enough respect. Derek Carr lead the Raiders, a team that used to be historically miserable, to the playoffs…twice. Statistically, he has more passing yards and touchdowns than any other quarterback in franchise history.
I believe that there’s five factors that go into determining a player’s worth in the public eye. Those five factors, which honestly could be applied to anyone, are…
#1 Fantasy Value
Points=Wins
Wins=Money
Money=Fame
Imagine this, you’re in your fantasy league, and you’re about to select a quarterback in the late rounds of the draft. You have a choice between Dak Prescott, Russell Wilson, Kyler Murray, and Derek Carr. Who are you taking?
If you’re going with Dak, you’re not alone. Dak Prescott had more fantasy points last year than any other quarterback listed above. But if you look closer, he only has the most fantasy points because of one reason. Touchdowns.
As a matter of fact, Prescott was able to find the back of the end zone 37 times last season. Derek Carr on the other hand, only put up 23 in that department. That’s a difference of 14. With every passing touchdown being valued at 4 points each, that brings you to a grand total of 56 points.
56 points is more than enough to move you up on any fantasy football leaderboard. According to fantasypros.com, Dak Prescott finished 2021 with the seventh most fantasy points scored among NFL quarterbacks. Derek Carr finished at 13th. If Carr had the same amount of touchdowns as Prescott, he’d be catapulted into the top 10, easily. In fact, Derek Carr has both more completions, and yards than Dak. The only reason people overlook Carr is because he seldom goes over 25 passing touchdowns in a season.
Like I mentioned before. Touchdowns will get you points, points get you wins, and wins earn you respect.
#2 Postseason Success
In this day and age, it seems as if people only tune into football games during the playoffs. Everything you do before wildcard weekend is somehow irrelevant to the public eye. You could play well all season, but if you do bad in a playoff game you’re put in a corner. Look at Donovan McNabb. He was one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks while he was playing. But because he couldn’t win “the big one”, people will always write him off as a choke job.
I’m not trying to make excuses for Carr, but of the two playoff appearances that he’s had, he’s only played in one of them. The first one came in 2016, with his magical MVP run. Obviously he didn’t win, but had he not broken his leg late in the season, we might be having a very different discussion right now. But nevertheless, a cracked fibula derailed his season, leading him to miss an important wildcard matchup against the Houston Texans.
This past season in 2021, the Raiders once again got screwed over with a controversial call in a playoff game. In the end, a late whistle and one pass breakup on the final drive divided the postseason from the offseason for the Las Vegas Raiders. But the past is the past, and Raider fans have grown accustomed to getting screwed over in big moments.
Matt Stafford, Russell Wilson, Ben Roethlisberger, and of course, Derek Carr…
What these four quarterbacks have in common is that they were all very talented players stuck on very bad teams. Matt Stafford was with the Lions for what felt like an eternity, and now he’s a Super Bowl champion. Maybe not this past season, but Russell Wilson and Ben Roethlisberger were the only bright spots on their respective teams for a long time.
Like I mentioned earlier, Derek Carr has captained a team with no direction for eight years now. The Raiders were irrelevant before he came in, but ever since he was drafted back in 2014, he’s given the team life. Two playoff appearances and three pro bowls? The Raiders haven’t had a quarterback this good since 2002. Yet for whatever reason, people love to label Las Vegas as the “team of old”. What else does the Silver and Black have to do to earn some respect? Both the Chargers and the Broncos missed the playoffs last year, yet they’re the AFC West favorites?
The bottom line is that the Raiders have always been hated by the NFL, and none of this is new. If the fans want to typecast them and humor their false narrative of Vegas being a losing franchise, let them. Hate the team, but don’t associate an individual’s accolades with the team’s misfortunes. In the end, Raider Nation loves to be the underdog, it makes for a better story.
#4 Popularity in the Media
Likable players that play well are sometimes overrated…
Likable players that play poorly are turned into memes…
Quiet Players that play well are underrated…
Quiet players that play poorly don’t last very long…
Cocky players that play well get the spotlight…
Cocky players that play poorly just look like clowns…
But then you have players like Johnny Manziel. They’d rather be in Vegas than in Canton. All they care about is how much they get paid, and what their next touchdown celebration will be. This kind of attitude can definitely rub people the wrong way, which is why Manziel is currently unemployed. Now I’m not saying that every trash talking signal caller is destined to play poorly. All I’m saying is that if you talk the talk, you better walk the walk.
Players like Derek Carr don’t care if they make it on the front page of Sports Illustrated or not. Maybe that’s why he always falls under the radar. Maybe people don’t pay close enough attention to make an accurate judgement. To be fair, how much do really know about a quarterback if you don’t get to see him play in the postseason?
#5 Performance on the Big Stage
That leads me to my next point. When you do get to see them play, how well do they perform? Do they choke? Are they inaccurate or get flustered in the pocket? Despite only playing in one playoff game, Derek Carr didn’t put up a bad performance. Against the Bengals in the wildcard round, he was only one throw away from sending the game into overtime.
If you’re one of those people that think that Derek Carr isn’t a “clutch” quarterback, let me enlighten you. Derek Carr leads all current NFL QB’s in fourth quarter comebacks. How does this even go unnoticed in the first place? After being drafted by the Raiders in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft, Carr has compiled 30 game winning drives. There is not one starting quarterback younger than him with a greater statistic.
The only current NFL players ahead of him are Russell Wilson, Matt Stafford, Matt Ryan, and Tom Brady. This past season alone, Carr totaled six game winning drives. Nearly half our schedule this year consisted of game winning drives. When the Raiders win, almost 99% of the time it’s because of our offense, because of Derek Carr. How many Primetime matchups have you seen with the Raiders winning in dramatic fashion? The overtime thriller? The real question is, which one? The Raiders are must watch television.
The Key Takeaway…
The bottom line is that the Raiders have always been hated by the NFL, and none of this is new. If the fans want to typecast them and humor their false narrative of Vegas being a losing franchise, let them. Hate the team, but don’t associate an individual’s accolades with the team’s misfortunes. In the end, Raider Nation loves to be the underdog, it makes for a better story…
Thanks for reading my article, I appreciate the support! I just started writing for Gridiron Heroics, but if you’re interested in checking out more of my work here’s a link to another article of mine
