Whether he is the Raiders franchise QB

[Invité]

after this season could depend on it." />Skip to main contentclockmenumore-arrownoyesSilver And Black Pride homepageHorizontal - WhiteSilver And Black Pridean Oakland Raiders communityFollow Silver And Black Pride online:Follow Silver And Black Pride on TwitterFollow Silver And Black Pride on FacebookLog in or sign upLog InSign UpSite searchSearchSearchSilver And Black Pride main menuFanpostsFanshotsRaidersOddsAboutMastheadCommunity GuidelinesStubHubMoreAll 321 blogs on Horizontal - WhiteFanposts Fanshots Raiders StoriesScheduleRosterStatsYahoo Raiders NewsYahoo Raiders Team PageYahoo Raiders ReportYahoo Raiders Depth ChartYahoo Raiders TransactionsYahoo Raiders PhotosOdds About Masthead Community Guidelines StubHub ?Derek Carr plans to scramble more in 2019 Gareon Conley Jersey , ‘take more chances’ downfieldNew,74commentsWhether he is the Raiders franchise QB after this season could depend on it.PDTThe 2018 season saw Derek Carr surpass 4000 yards for the first time. We also saw an offense that couldn’t sustain drives and wasn’t threatening anyone with their ability to score. Part of that is on Derek Carr’s shoulders, part of it is not. The vast majority of Carr’s yardage was on dump offs and quick passes for short yardage. He rarely tested the deep part of the field and he rarely got out of the pocket and made a play with his legs. Both areas he is making an effort to change this season.On day one of camp, he threw the deep ball several times. Mostly because he now has a weapon in Tyrell Williams who he can throw to. Williams and Antonio Brown give Carr the best staring receiver duo he’s had now heading into his sixth NFL season as the Raiders’ starting quarterback. He has a level of trust for his receivers he didn’t have with previous starting duos. Perhaps more so than with any single starting receiver.“These guys will make some of the worst throws look really good,” Carr said of his two new receiving targets. “If you under throw the ball a little bit, AB and Tyrell, they’re good at adjusting and making it perfect because they understand where the defender is, the coverage, that kind of stuff. Absolutely it helps. In my mind, I can take more chances. Trust me, we learn a lot of stuff about everybody out here on the practice field every year. You learn what you can get away with. You learn what you can’t with certain guys. So is Coach. Coach is in my ear, ‘Hey, get 16 that ball. Get him that ball. Throw that thing up to him. Give him that chance. We’re going to put it on his shoulders to go make those plays.’ That’s what he wants. Any receiver will tell you they want that, but they have to prove that out there. He’s proven it for Coach Gruden to say, hey, you have free will to a certain extent depending on who he’s talking to. We get Tyrell, we get AB out there, man let’s get them the ball.”Jon Gruden likes the short Eddie Vanderdoes Jersey , quick passing game. That’s his MO. It’s that whole West Coast Offense thing. But that doesn’t work if you don’t keep the defense honest. If they know that’s all you’re going to do, they can play for that. So, you have to make them aware that the deep ball is available at any time.Another must in Gruden’s offense is the ability for the quarterback to make plays with his legs if the defense smothers the play as called. Carr has shown in the past that he can run when he needs to. Last season he looked completely lost in that part of his game. The best QB Gruden ever coached was Rich Gannon. A QB who knew how to make a play when the play broke down. If Carr is to be Gruden’s franchise quarterback, that part of his game is absolutely crucial to develop.“Yes, I need to do it better,” Carr said of scrambling. “It’s something that we all know too, especially in the second year of a system it’s easier to get through your progressions faster. Like in my head I can eliminate things versus certain coverages and I can then get out and extend it, whereas last year I’m trying to do it so perfect. And then we had too many sacks and things like that – they weren’t all on the offensive line, that’s my fault. I take credit for all of it. So, scrambling is actually something we have worked on a lot. It’s something where coach will tell the DB, ‘Hey jump this’ so that I can’t throw it and it makes me scramble. We had one today on 7-on-7 where I had to get out and scramble and things like that is something that I’ve really tried to work hard on to be honest with you, all offseason. Because I feel like I am athletic enough to do some damage that way. I haven’t done that well enough and I plan on doing that.”Sacks were a big problem last season. Carr was sacked 51 times. And as he said a lot of them were on him. He just didn’t have any pocket presence. He has always had a quick clock in his head, but last year he just seemed panicky all the time. And when he got happy feet, nothing productive came of it. He wasn’t able to scramble for yardage and he wasn’t able to find a new spot and reset his feet to try and find a receiver downfield.Protection issues shouldn’t affect the offense as much as they did last season. The best NFL quarterbacks can thrive even with protection breakdowns. Better receivers will help with that, but ultimately it’s on Carr. Creating a legitimate deep threat and becoming a threat to run will add two crucial elements to his game and the Raiders offense.Follow @LeviDamien Thursday the Raiders matched up with the Cardinals in their second preseason bout. The Cardinals are an interesting story to follow this year with first overall pick Kyler Murray and new head coach..." />Skip to main contentclockmenumore-arrownoyesSilver And Black Pride homepageHorizontal - WhiteSilver And Black Pridean Oakland Raiders communityFollow Silver And Black Pride online:Follow Silver And Black Pride on TwitterFollow Silver And Black Pride on FacebookLog in or sign upLog InSign UpSite searchSearchSearchSilver And Black Pride main menuFanpostsFanshotsRaidersOddsAboutMastheadCommunity GuidelinesStubHubMoreAll 321 blogs on Horizontal - WhiteFanposts Fanshots Raiders StoriesScheduleRosterStatsYahoo Raiders NewsYahoo Raiders Team PageYahoo Raiders ReportYahoo Raiders Depth ChartYahoo Raiders TransactionsYahoo Raiders PhotosOdds About Masthead Community Guidelines StubHub ?Raiders Film Room: Breaking down the defensive pressure against the CardinalsNew,15commentsPDTThursday the Raiders matched up with the Cardinals in their second preseason bout. The Cardinals are an interesting story to follow this year with first overall pick Kyler Murray and new head coach Cliff Kingsbury attempting to bring the full Air Raid offense into the NFL.Paul Guenther didn’t seem worried about the potential problems of a college oriented spread attack and had a few tricks up his sleeve to slow down the Cardinals. Pressuring the quarterback was the achilles heel of the defense in 2018 but you wouldn’t know it from watching this game. Guenther’s defense dialed up blitz after blitz, noticeably flustering the rookie signal caller and held the first string offense to 12 yards in their 4 series of action. Here’s a look at how the defense got after the QB.Keeping containThe prevailing theory as to why the Cardinals were willing to trade their 2018 first round QB Josh Rosen in favor of Kyler Murray because his mobility will better suit him to make plays behind the league’s worst offensive line. Playing up to Murray’s mobility was definitely a strategy the Cardinals were attempting to execute early in the game, calling zone reads and boot actions like the one above.The reason the zone read never gained real traction in the NFL however is because of the freak athletes at defensive end across the league. College edge defenders are usually taught to play either the RB or the QB David Sharpe Jersey , making it easier for offensive coordinators to use their rules against them in game action. Just about every NFL team however has an edge defender (or two) who has the athleticism to play both. Clelin Ferrell gave Raiders fans a glimpse of that on the play above. By slow playing the run action, Ferrell puts himself in a position to react once he sees where the ball is going. He also flashes some jets in pursuit of the speedy Cardinals QB to force an errant throw and incompletion.Five-man pressureThe Raiders defense sent pressure from the slot numerous times throughout the game. This blitz from rookie Johnathan Abram should become a normal sight on Sundays. Abram crosses the line of scrimmage at full speed and lowers his shoulder into David Johnson who is pass protecting. Abram knocks the former Pro-Bowl running back onto his heels and speeds up Murray’s process. Murray looks rushed and is forced to throw the ball early. The tight coverage from Joyner on the slot receiver no doubt disrupts some of the timing of this play as well.Sacrificing coveragePressure and coverage go hand in hand. On the previous play, close man coverage helped disrupt the timing of Murray’s target. Calling a blitz puts more stress on coverage defenders forcing them to play more areas of the field without help. This wasn’t an issue for much of the starters time on the field but this throw and catch illustrates the gamble of sending more men after the quarterback.The Raiders are in what looks like a “trap coverage” on top of a 5 man pressure. Trap coverage asks the cornerbacks to key the number 2 wide receiver in order to break on any out routes. Gareon Conley utilizes a “bail” technique to stay on top of the number 1 wide receiver while keeping his eyes on the tight end. Conley’s eyes don’t get back to Keesean Johnson in time to break on the hitch and he gives up a reception for 8 yards.Stunting defensive lineBlitzing is great when the coverage holds up. In the NFL, however, you have to be able to generate pressure from a 4-man rush to be successful on defense. Paul Guenther has some toys he can use in a 4-man rush in order create more pressure than he did in 2018. The Raiders are still in Nickel personnel but the added wrinkle is putting the 4th overall pick Clelin Ferrell at defensive tackle inside of Arden Key. The two defensive ends on the same side give some flexibility to stunt because both players should theoretically be able to contain rush. This time Arden Key loops inside to notch a hurry on Murray. Against a less mobile QB this may have been an easy sack. He continues to pursue and forces Murray to throw an uncatchable ball. Ferrell however loses discipline on his rush and jumps inside for a split second which is what allows the QB to break the pocket, if that gets cleaned up Ferrell as the sub interior rusher should be formidable.Double A Gap blitzThis is Paul Guenther’s bread and butter and he has his defense line up in this look several times before this play. Each previous Double A-Gap look however was a bluff and if pressure came at all it came off the edge. This time Guenther pulls the trigger and sends Vontaze Burfict and Tahir Whitehead into the A gaps. What should be exciting for Raiders fans is Burfict’s ability to run this scheme. One LB will bull rush the center and the other will loop behind but they need to read which way the center sets in order to execute this rush. When Burfict sees the center set towards Whitehead he puts his foot in the ground and pushes the blocker out of his teammates way, freeing up Whitehead to loop behind. Murray lays up a pass to the sideline in tight coverage. Keesean Johnson is flagged for offensive pass interference and this one comes back in the Raiders favor.Joyner’s sack The addition of Lamarcus Joyner should really benefit this defense. This play against the Cardinals was a sneak preview of what Joyner brings to the team. Premier slot defenders must be able to play tight man coverage, make tackles against the run, and can be used as a blitzer. Joyner has a proven ability to do all 3 and he should be the Raiders defensive MVP by the end of the season.Guenther calls this blitz from Joyner after sending Abram from the slot earlier and the Double A-Gap pressure. The RB in pass protection looks for both of these but misses Joyner streaking free on his way to pick up a safety against the rookie QB. ConclusionGuenther blitzed each starting linebacker (Burfict, Whitehead, and Brandon Marshall), and each starting safety (Abram, Joyner, and Karl Joseph). He also asked Benson Mayowa and Clelin Ferrell to drop into coverage a couple times.In 11 pass attempts from the Cardinals first team offense, Paul Guenther sent:4 rushers 3 times5 rushers 6 times6 rushers 2 timesThis is an extremely high blitz rate. While fun to watch, its likely not sustainable and was used mostly to fluster a young rookie QB in an offensive scheme that doesn’t give its tackles much help in pass protection. The main takeaway is that the defenders have absorbed many different play calls and were able to execute their responsibilities. This is an encouraging sign that means the defense is beginning to gel and will have answers to the problems that high powered offenses will bring during the regular season.