Raiders’ Carr near mark for 1st 5 years
The first completion of Raiders quarterback Derek Carr’s NFL career, to fullback Marcel Reece on Sept. 7, 2014, went for no gain.
In retrospect, with Carr poised to break the NFL record for most completions by a quarterback in his first five seasons, it was an early indication that his successes would not unfold easily.
At 1,716 career completions, Carr can surpass Peyton Manning for the distinction with 34 connections over the Raiders’ final two games. Carr already has joined Manning as the only two quarterbacks to begin their NFL careers with five straight seasons of 300 or more comple-
tions, albeit during a season in which the Raiders are 3-11 heading into Monday’s home finale against the Broncos.
Those numbers, certainly, reflect the fact that Carr has started since Week 1 of his rookie year in a pass-heavy era in the NFL, and are tempered somewhat by his career record of 31-45. Yet with Carr, who also suffered a broken leg late in the 2016 season and a back fracture last year but has missed only two NFL starts, it has not been a simple story of accumulation.
In five seasons, Carr has not ranked higher than seventh in passing attempts and has not finished higher than 10th in completions. (He’s tied for sixth in completions this season.)
One popular criticism of Carr has been that he relies heavily on short, easily completed throws. Yet according to NFL Next Gen Stats, which began in 2016, Carr’s average intended air yardage on throws was only 13th-lowest among qualified quarterbacks in 2016 and 16th last season. His average of 6.8 yards per attempt this season is tied for the lowest mark, but comes in a season in which he has been sacked a career-high 47 times behind a beleaguered offensive line.
In the Raiders’ first season under head coach Jon Gruden, Carr is also playing for his fourth play-caller in five years. Rich Gannon, the former Raiders All-Pro quarterback, said Carr’s handling of that circumstance has been “amazing.”
“That’s the worst thing that can happen to a young quarterback,” Gannon said in a phone interview. “It’s the most dysfunctional thing you can possibly do to a young quarterback: keep changing coordinators and keep changing systems and things around him.”
Carr’s first NFL head coach Dennis Allen was fired four games into his rookie season, which the Raiders started 0-10. Gannon recalled broadcasting their Week 9 game that season against the Seahawks, who would reach the Super Bowl, and noting Carr’s resilience.
“He was getting hit in the face every play, the receivers couldn’t run, they had no speed out there, the offensive line was a patchwork offensive line. And he didn’t flinch,” Gannon said. “That to me showed his toughness.”
Carr completed 58.1 percent of his passes his rookie year, followed by rates of 61.1, 63.8 and 62.7 the next three seasons. Gruden arrived in January saying he intended to “unlock the greatness” in Carr. But though Carr has completed 68.4 percent of his throws this season — seventh among qualified quarterbacks — it has not been an entirely smooth transition.
Carr threw eight interceptions in his first five games and his protection began to fall apart in Week 6 against Seattle, when he was sacked six times. That began a six-game stretch in which Carr averaged less than 200 yards passing per game. In an interview in mid-November, NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger said it appeared Carr was “going backward.”
“Two years ago, he had those fourth-quarter comebacks and he was super-excited and he attacked and challenged teams and he had everything you wanted in a quarterback,” Baldinger said in November. “Last year was bad and this year’s worse. And I don’t know that you can just find Derek Carr out there in the draft. They have to figure out a way to make this work.”
Baldinger recently sounded more optimistic in a Twitter breakdown of Carr’s play against the Steelers in Week 14, citing his aggressiveness and praising one particular throw as “fearless — that’s what made Derek Carr a $125 million quarterback.”
Carr has gone nine straight games without an interception and holds the NFL’s longest current interception-less streak at 292 pass attempts. On Thursday, he said he wasn’t aware how close he was to Manning’s five-year completions record but that: “Just the fact that we’ve been able to do that is pretty cool.”
Raiders offensive coordinator Greg Olson, who held the same role in 2014, said Carr’s accuracy is “a skill that he has always possessed” but is “hard on himself ” to hone. Receiver Jordy Nelson said Carr “takes a lot of pride in the placement of the ball.”
“He wants to put it, even in practice, in a situation not only where you can catch it but where you can run afterward,” Nelson said. “And if it’s not exactly where he wants it, then he’ll grab another ball and throw it again.”
After passing Gannon on Dec. 2 for second-most passing yards in Raiders history, Carr (18,387) is poised to close 2018 just behind franchise leader Ken Stabler (19,078) and with his first 4,000-yard season. Former Raiders quarterback Jim Plunkett said that’s an indication of Carr continuing to rebound from the leg injury that derailed his third NFL season.
“I think coming off that injury slowed him down a little bit in his progress,” Plunkett said. “But he’s a great kid, he works hard, he studies hard. And he’ll get back to that form. And hopefully, they’ll put the guys around him to make that happen.”
With Gruden on a 10-year deal and Carr playing more in his offense, Gannon said he expects further improvement.
“I think Jon and Derek are going to have great success for a long time,” Gannon said. “Both are committed to getting this thing turned around and both put the work and the effort in to make sure it happens.
“And I think Derek’s tougher than people give him credit for — not just physically tougher, but I think mentally tougher. … I think he’s going to be a really good player for a long time.” Matt Kawahara is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mkawahara@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @matthewkawahara