Unfamiliar Raiders' Coaching Staff Provides Growth Opportunity for Derek Carr

No player is more important to the Oakland Raiders' success in 2015 than quarterback Derek Carr. Nearly everything the Raiders do this offseason revolves around the second-year quarterback out of Fresno State—from coaching staff changes to the draft.

Owner Mark Davis said he originally wanted to hire an offensive-minded head coach before Jack Del Rio proved he also knew offense. The Raiders hired Bill Musgrave as offensive coordinator with Carr in mind, even if doing so lacked much ingenuity or inspiration on their part.

Now that former Raiders quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo has accepted a job with the Cleveland Browns as their offensive coordinator, Carr is looking at an entirely new offensive coaching staff to work with in 2015. The unfamiliar staff provides Carr with a tremendous growth opportunity.

While consistency for a young quarterback can be a good thing, change is underappreciated. Think about how often a team changes its head coach only to improve significantly the following year with virtually the same core players. There are usually a couple of examples every year.

The coaches—including Del Rio, Musgrave, offensive line coach Mike Tice and a yet-to-be-hired quarterbacks coach—all have something to offer Carr and the rest of the team. It’s up to Carr to absorb what he can from his new coaches and become the long-term option at quarterback for the Raiders.

Developing players is a complicated process, but no one has more control over it than the player does. The coaches come second in the equation, but their job is primarily to put the player in a position to have success and then get out of the way.

The new coaches will come with new ideas on how to help Carr. Although he demonstrated significant improvement in 2014 in key areas, such as reading coverage and protections, Carr still has plenty of work to do.

Growth Opportunities

If it weren't for a rocket arm, there would already be fans giving Carr the derogatory nickname “Captain Checkdown” for as often as he throws short passes. Carr’s 5.5 yards per attempt in 2014 was the lowest number—by a huge margin—of all qualified quarterbacks in 2014.

There are many reasons for Carr’s low average, but it’s not because he is reluctant to throw the ball deep.

The running game was atrocious for most of the season, so Carr threw many passes that were essentially run replacements. The Raiders finished last in rushing yards per game and tied for 27th in per-carry average.

When Musgrave draws up a plan to help Carr, a competent running game is going to be of vital importance. Tice is also going to be heavily involved in this area. If the Raiders can get their running game going in 2015, many of Carr's incomplete passes in 2014 will turn into runs.

Carr's opportunity for growth is therefore to make sure the opponent can’t crowd the line of scrimmage. The use of play action and a focus on getting the ball between 10-19 yards down the field will be key. He was at his best when throwing in this zone in 2014.

Zone	Left	Middle	Right
20+	16.7%, 175 yards, 1 INT	25.0%, 125 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT	24.0%, 208 yards, 1 TD
10-19	50.0%, 207 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT	46.0%, 395 yards 3 TD, 4 INT	65.1%, 406 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
0-9	71.9%, 253 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT	70.2%, 784 yards, 7 TD, 2 INT	75.0%, 362 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Minus Yards	84.2$, 84 yards	90.9%, 159 yards, 2 TD	86.4%, 69 yards

To do that, he’ll need help at wide receiver. The receivers need to be able to get open quickly down the field, or Carr will have to throw short and hope they can get the yards after the catch.

Oakland’s wide receivers were generally terrible at gaining yards after the catch in 2014. Out of wide receivers playing at least half the time, Andre Holmes' 4.1-yard average after the catch was the best on the team, but that was 45th in the league. Only the Kansas City Chiefs had their top wide receivers gain fewer yards after the catch per reception.

However, the Chiefs had tight end Travis Kelce, who had more yards after the catch in 2014 than any other tight end and averaged 7.5 per catch. That was the best among all tight ends who played 60 percent of the time. Oakland’s tight end Mychal Rivera averaged 3.1 yards after the catch, which ranked 22nd out of 24 qualifying tight ends.

Even if the Raiders get more talent or unlock more talent in the players they have, Carr has to do more with less.

Carr was also extremely reluctant to take sacks. Only five quarterbacks took fewer sacks as a percentage of their attempts—Nick Foles, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Joe Flacco and Carson Palmer. For Carr, an incomplete pass or a short completion replaced those sacks and dragged down his average.

State	Value	NFL Rank
TD %	3.5%	25T/33
INT %	2.0%	7T/33
Sack %	3.9%	5T/34
Comp. % Under 2.5 Seconds	63.2%	26/27
Deep Accuracy %	23.9%	25/25
Under Pressure Accuracy %	54.2%	24/27

Carr’s 63.2 completion percentage when he threw the ball within 2.5 seconds ranked 26th out of 27 qualified quarterbacks in 2014. That’s bad, but it highlights how he was forcing passes out of his hand earlier than necessary.

On deep passes, Carr was 23.9 percent accurate—the worst in the league. This is despite attempting a respectable 11.9 percent of his passes beyond 20 yards.

One of the criticisms of Carr in college was how he performed under pressure. The jump in the level of competition didn't do much to help matters, as he was one of the least accurate quarterbacks in the league under pressure.

There are plenty of growth opportunities for Carr that are independent of talent and scheme. It will be up to the coaching staff to find ways to unlock the flashes of brilliance Carr showed in 2014, but absent improvement from Carr, there’s only so much coaches can do.

Coaching Help

The Raiders clearly need a better running game and more talent at wide receiver. Absent better talent—a focus for general manager Reggie McKenzie this offseason—the coaching staff has to put Carr into position to have success.

Last year, the Raiders chose to have Carr get the ball out quickly—so quickly that it often hurt the offense’s production. It was a good strategy to protect Carr but otherwise was a total failure. The Raiders were the second-worst offense in the entire league.

Mike McGinnis/Getty Images

Musgrave demonstrated a similar conservative approach with Christian Ponder in Minnesota from 2011-2013, except he had considerably more offensive talent at his disposal than the Raiders currently have. Adrian Peterson and Percy Harvin provided him with a running game and yards after the catch, respectively. 

The new faces around Carr will come with new ideas on how to use talent and protect him. Carr must embrace those changes and accept the challenge of improving his own game. Scheme and talent aren't going to save him in 2014, even with big improvements.  

The coaches will do what they can to give Carr a safety net, but he’s the one on the field executing plays. Carr is the leader of the team now, and the offense will only go as far as he takes it in 2015.

Unless otherwise noted, all statistics via Pro-Football-Reference or Pro Football Focus.