Derek Carr, quarterback, Oakland Raiders
Carr’s first three seasons in the NFL rivals any other quarterback in league history. Again, that’s not hyperbole. Here’s a guy that’s coming off a Pro Bowl performance and has recorded nearly 11,200 passing yards with 81 touchdowns compared to 31 interceptions.
Before we freak out over Carr’s inclusion in this list, let’s compare him to some of today’s greats in terms of what he’s done in his first three seasons as a starter.
First three years as a full-time starter in the NFL pic.twitter.com/LuFupLsfH1
— Sportsnaut (@Sportsnaut) June 7, 2017
That’s some mighty fine company to keep. And not a single person would question the Hall of Fame candidacy of those four quarterbacks. Surely Carr will have to perform at this level for the next decade. Doing this for three years is one thing. Performing at an elite clip for 10-plus seasons is a completely different thing.
But let’s look at what Carr has done in the context of where the Raiders were when he took over as the team’s starter. That gives us a bit more reference. In 2014, the former second-round pick took over a team that had won an average of 4.8 games over the past 11 seasons.
After initial team-wide struggles during his rookie season, Carr has led the Raiders to progression over the past two years. It culminated in a 12-win 2016 campaign — one that saw the Raiders as legit Super Bowl contenders before Carr himself went down to injury in Week 16.
With one of the best offensive lines in the game and a dynamic receiving duo of Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree, there’s no reason to believe Carr can’t continue to progress under center. Should that happen, the Raiders will win a Super Bowl here in short order. At that point, talk of Canton wouldn’t seem too absurd.