Oakland Raiders select possible future franchise QB Derek Carr at No. 36 in NFL draft

Derek Carr has his next challenge: Make the Raiders' offense relevant. (Gregory Bull/AP) It's not a surprise that the Raiders selected Fresno State

Doug Farrar|

Derek Carr has his next challenge: Make the Raiders' offense relevant. (Gregory Bull/AP)

It's not a surprise that the Raiders selected Fresno State quarterback Derek Carr with the 36th overall pick -- there was some noise that team owner Mark Davis actually wanted Carr in the first round, but he was fortunately dissuaded. In the early second round, the pick makes far more sense -- Carr is a big enough (6-2, 214) quarterback with a plus arm, decent mobility, and numbers that set the Mountain Wets conference afire. He'll have to learn to play under center and avoid rushing his throws under pressure, but it's easily arguable that Carr was the best quarterback left in this class, and the Raiders are in desperate need of a signal-caller that they can develop over time.

Grade: B+

Published May 9, 2014

DOUG FARRAR

SI.com contributing NFL writer and Seattle resident Doug Farrar started writing about football locally in 2002, and became Football Outsiders' West Coast NFL guy in 2006. He was fascinated by FO's idea to combine Bill James with Dr. Z, and wrote for the site for six years. He wrote a game-tape column called "Cover-2" for a number of years, and contributed to six editions of "Pro Football Prospectus" and the "Football Outsiders Almanac." In 2009, Doug was invited to join Yahoo Sports' NFL team, and covered Senior Bowls, scouting combines, Super Bowls, and all sorts of other things for Yahoo Sports and the Shutdown Corner blog through June, 2013. Doug received the proverbial offer he couldn't refuse from SI.com in 2013, and that was that. Doug has also written for the Seattle Times, the Washington Post, the New York Sun, FOX Sports, ESPN.com, and ESPN The Magazine. He also makes regular appearances on several local and national radio shows, and has hosted several podcasts over the years. He counts Dan Jenkins, Thomas Boswell, Frank Deford, Ralph Wiley, Peter King, and Bill Simmons as the writers who made him want to do this for a living. In his rare off-time, Doug can be found reading, hiking, working out, searching for new Hendrix, Who, and MC5 bootlegs, and wondering if the Mariners will ever be good again.

Home/NFL