Oakland Raiders: The Difference In 2017 Offensive Philosophy Is Trust

The Oakland Raiders raised some eyebrows when they let former OC Bill Musgrave walk away – but this offense is perhaps, poised for even greater success because they did.

Ordinarily, when a team has the sort of offensive success the Oakland Raiders enjoyed in 2016, they don’t feel compelled to make any sweeping changes. And so, when the Raiders made no effort to retain OC Bill Musgrave, letting him walk away when his contract expired, it raised some eyebrows around the league. (truth be told, it also raised many cheers around the Raider Nation)

Though some might be concerned with a rookie OC stepping in to call the plays, Oakland’s offense will actually take a giant leap forward for one simple reason – new OC Todd Downing absolutely trusts quarterback Derek Carr.

This isn’t to say that Musgrave didn’t trust Carr. He did trust the young signal caller – to a point. Musgrave kept a tight control on the offense and had a certain philosophy he was married to – one he refused to ever seem to deviate from. Even when it seemed to be to the detriment of the offense.

For the past couple of seasons, Musgrave talked about and flirted with the idea of running a more up-tempo, no-huddle offensive attack. And given the caliber of talent on the offensive side of the ball, it was an idea that excited many.

Except for the fact that it never quite panned out that way.

Given Carr’s success in the no-huddle attack, the fact that Musgrave used it about as often as he used the team’s tight ends – which is to say, hardly ever – was mind-numbingly frustrating. And one of the reasons fans despised Musgrave’s bland, vanilla, predictable play calling.

In 2016, Carr operated incredibly effectively in the no-huddle attack – when he was allowed to run it. For the year, Carr went 29 of 42 (69 percent completion rate) for 366 yards, four touchdowns, and zero interceptions. And oh yeah, he had a QB rating of 127.7 in the no-huddle.

Which makes Musgrave’s refusal to implement more of that style of offense all the more mind-boggling. If you’ve got such a potent, productive weapon in your pocket, it makes no sense at all to not use it.

For all the good things he did do for Oakland’s offense – and there were plenty – the bottom line seems to be that Musgrave trusted his philosophy and his system more than he trusted the players on the field. He was so married to his offensive philosophy that he held Carr and the offense back from reaching their true potential.

That’s something that seems to – and will hopefully – be changing with Musgrave out and Downing in. HC Jack Del Rio alluded to those philosophical change in a recent conference call with season ticket holders.

"“In terms of what we do with Derek [Carr], we think he is really good at operating out of a no huddle, being able to see what the defense wants to do, about giving him more and more leeway at the line, and more opportunity to get us out of bad plays, and into good plays. [We] just feel like with a quarterback with his talents, that we have to take advantage of that, and so absolutely, we’re going to look to do more of that as we go.”"

With the pieces the offense has in place, this could be a very fast, very explosive team – even more so than they were in 2016. After all, for all of their offensive pyrotechnics, the passing game ranked just thirteenth in the league overall.

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That’s a number that very well could – and should – go up with the team giving Carr more freedom to run the show. And with a stable of receiving talent that includes Michael Crabtree, Amari Cooper, Cordarelle Patterson, Jared Cook, Clive Walford, and Seth Roberts, among others, Oakland’s passing game has the ability to be one of the best in the league.

But much of their success is going to come down to the man throwing the ball – Carr. It’s something that Del Rio and Downing know, understand, and seem to be comfortable with.

Said Del Rio:

"“Feel really good about Todd Downing and his relationship with Derek Carr; and we really believe that the keys to a special offense are taking advantage of a talent like Derek, and allowing him to have the keys to run the show. We’re going to give him more and more freedom at the line, and looking for him to continue his development.”"

Musgrave did a lot of good things for the Raiders. He helped modernize an offense that seemed like it had been stuck in the stone age for a lot of years. But given the strict and rigid adherance to his offensive philosophy, Oakland’s offense seemed to plateau under Musgrave’s watch. And that seems to be in large part, because he trusted his philosophy more than his players.

That’s something that appears to be changing and the Raiders will be better for it. Giving Carr the freedom to operate, to call plays at the line, to run a more up-tempo, no-huddle attack is going to benefit Oakland’s offense in a multitude of ways.

The Raiders have the talent. They have a plethora of weapons for Carr to utilize. And now, Carr seems to have something under Downing that he lacked under Musgrave – the trust and freedom to be the franchise quarterback they’re about to pay him to be.

And Carr, the offense, and the Raiders as a whole, will be far better for it.