Tight end Carrier ‘joker’ in Raiders’ offensive deck
As one of the first free agents signed by the Raiders this offseason, tight end Derek Carrier came with references.
Carrier played two seasons under new Raiders coach Jon Gruden’s brother, Jay, in Washington, where Gruden’s son Deuce was a strength and conditioning coach. Last year, Carrier played for the Rams and head coach Sean McVay, who was an assistant on Jon Gruden’s staff in Tampa Bay in 2008.
“There’s a lot of Carrier fans out there,” Jon Gruden said this week. “But I’m leading the charge.”
Carrier, 28, hasn’t put up big numbers in the NFL. In five seasons, he has totaled 36 catches for 327 yards and a touchdown. But Gruden has made it clear that he values versatility in players — and in the 6-foot-4, 244-pound Carrier, a former receiver, he sees just that.
“Good player,” Gruden said. “He can play in the slot and be a big receiver, he can play in-line and be a tight end. He can cover kicks. He can run option routes.
He has quickness and savvy and great instincts.
“He’s what I call a joker. You can line him up in any hand. He can line up here, there, anywhere.”
Last year with the Rams, whom the Raiders will play in their second preseason game Saturday and in their regularseason opener Sept. 10, Carrier shuffled between positions including tight end, fullback and wide receiver. He said he played a flexible role in Washington as well and sees similarities between the Gruden brothers’ offenses.
“They both ask the tight ends to move around a lot and know a lot,” Carrier said. “It’s something I think as a position group we take a lot of pride in, is being able to do everything.”
The Raiders returned tight end Jared Cook, their leader in receiving yards last season, and re-signed blocking tight end Lee Smith in free agency. Yet they still saw fit to add Carrier, who played in 14 games for the Rams last season with three starts and eight catches for 71 yards.
Last week’s joint practices with the Lions provided a glimpse of why. The Raiders often used two-tight-end sets with both Cook and Carrier on the field, and Detroit had trouble defending either. Gruden later said the Raiders wanted to feature Cook and Carrier, and that they consider the latter to be an “intriguing mismatch problem” for some defenses.
“I think we’re very wellbalanced,” Carrier said. “Just with the speed and the versatility that we have, especially when we get in multiple tight end sets, we’re able to do a lot.”
Originally signed by the Raiders in 2012 as an undrafted rookie out of Division III Beloit College, Carrier was waived that fall and signed to the Eagles’ practice squad. He did not play in a game for Philadelphia, but said that’s where he moved from receiver to tight end. He spent time with the 49ers before recording a career-high 17 catches for 141 yards with Washington in 2015.
Carrier said he quickly warmed to the “physicality” of tight end.
“Even when I played receiver, I liked to mix it up, get in there and block a lot,” Carrier said. “To play tight end, you’re not going to be catching passes 100 percent of the time. So I think having that knack in the blocking game, or just having that attitude, is beneficial.”
Part of his decision to sign with the Raiders, Carrier said, was Gruden’s “vision” for the position. It didn’t hurt that Carrier had already played for another Gruden brother.
“They’re very similar,” Carrier said, “their very funny senses of humor — and just their coaching style. They keep things light, keep it fun. But at the same time, they know how to get the most out of their players.”
McVay, meanwhile, has been likened to Gruden for his grasp of offense. With their teams meeting again in a nationally televised Monday night game in less than a month, it’s unlikely either Gruden or McVay will show much in terms of offensive creativity. The Raiders will devote much of Saturday to players fighting for roster spots, Gruden said.
“It’s a preseason game and we have a lot of really tough evaluations to get through before we start thinking about what play we’re going to call,” Gruden said.
“We’re going to really continue to use this as an evaluation period. You’re going to see a lot of players … that are going to get a chance to show us they belong here. That’s how we’re looking at this game.”