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Fantasy Football: Make or break season for 3 quarterbacks

By Matthew Catalano

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - AUGUST 29: Jameis Winston #3 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers warms up before a NFL preseason game at AT&T Stadium on August 29, 2019 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - AUGUST 29: Jameis Winston #3 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers warms up before a NFL preseason game at AT&T Stadium on August 29, 2019 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
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KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – DECEMBER 30: Quarterback Derek Carr #4 of the Oakland Raiders in action during the game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on December 30, 2018 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – DECEMBER 30: Quarterback Derek Carr #4 of the Oakland Raiders in action during the game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on December 30, 2018 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

Can Derek Carr Finally Get it Together?

Derek Carr entered the NFL back in 2014 as the Raiders were looking for a new franchise quarterback to build their team around. Carr spent his four years prior to the NFL at Fresno State between 2009-2013 where he threw for over 12,000 yards, along with 113 touchdowns and 24 interceptions.

The Oakland Raiders went ahead and selected Carr with the 36th overall pick of the 2014 Draft. About a month later, Oakland signed their new quarterback to a four-year $5.37 million deal. The stage was set for Carr to begin his NFL career with the Raiders.

Carr started all 16 games of his rookie season as he threw for 3,270 yards, 21 touchdowns, 12 interceptions, and a completion percentage of 58%. The Raiders as a whole had a dreadful season as they only went 3-13 with a last-place finish in the AFC West Division. A lot of Oakland’s struggles that season wasn’t Carr’s fault. The Raiders had to surround Carr with a better supporting cast.

2015 was a significant improvement as Carr led the Raiders to a 7-9 record, along with 3,987 passing yards, 32 touchdowns, and 13 picks. One of Carr’s most memorable games of that season was when Oakland took on the Jets in Week 8 where he threw for 333 yards and four touchdowns with a passer rating of 130.9.

There was much hope swirling around the Bay Area as the Raiders looked like a team on the up and coming with a lot of promise.

2016 was one of Carr’s best seasons of his career as he completed 63.8% of his passes for 3,937 yards, 28 touchdowns and only eight interceptions. The Raiders finished the season with a 12-4 record and a wild card berth in the playoffs for the first time since 2002. Lastly, Carr ended 2016 as QB11 in fantasy averaging 17.9 points per game in PPR formats.

Sadly on Christmas Eve of that year, Carr wound up injuring his leg against the Colts as the Raiders ended up winning that game 33-25. It was later discovered that Carr had suffered a broken fibula and would require six to eight weeks of recovery time.

In 2017 Carr returned but didn’t appear to be the same after the injury. His passer rating dropped from 96.7 in 2016 to 86.4. The Raiders finished the season up at 6-10 and missed the playoffs altogether. He nearly threw for 3,500 yards and his touchdown/interception ratio was almost identical to what it was in his rookie campaign (22:13).

Last year, Carr threw for the most passing yards in a single season of his career (4,049) but had 19 touchdown passes and 10 picks to go along with it.

The Raiders have spent the last five years hoping that Carr would be the next franchise quarterback but he has yet to reach that next level in his career. Oakland even made an attempt to surround Carr with some more talented weapons on their offense, most notably Antonio Brown. As we are all aware right now, the relationship between Brown and the organization went south very fast and in a matter of just six months, Oakland released him.

So much for giving Carr a highly powerful playmaker in Brown. Now he will have to depend on the likes of Tyrell Williams for success in the passing game this year. This is a critical juncture for Carr, especially from a fantasy standpoint. If he doesn’t take that next step this year, then I don’t know if he ever will. Hopefully, he can up his game to the next level this year to reestablish our faith in him.

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