Oakland Raiders: Derek Carr carrying a big chip on his shoulder in 2018

Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr had a down year in 2017, and a recent slight has put a massive chip on his shoulder – which could be good news for fans in 2018.

There really is no sugarcoating it. Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr didn’t have the kind of performance you’d expect from a franchise signal-caller last season.

However, to be fair, performance was down across the board for the 2017 Raiders team. Miserably down. There were few bright spots to the 2017 season not named Khalil Mack.

What made it all the more frustrating was that Oakland was fresh off a successful 2016 campaign, and expectations were sky high. The Raiders were even considered, by some, to be a sexy pick to dethrone the Patriots and be a legit contender for a Super Bowl appearance.

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After all, in 2016, Carr, who was receiving plenty of MVP hype, went 12-3 as the starter – a record that propelled the Raiders back to the playoffs for the first time since dinosaurs roamed the Earth – before a busted leg ended his season before those playoffs began.

It was an injury that ended their shot at an AFC West title, and subsequently busted Oakland’s playoff run, as they were manhandled by the Houston Texans in the Wild Card round – a Texans team Carr had beaten earlier in the regular season.

It was a successful campaign though, that led to Carr’s then-record $125 million dollar contract extension. Big-time money for who they believed was a big-time quarterback.

It was also a campaign – and individual performance – successful enough that Carr was named the league’s eleventh-best player in a poll of players, unveiled annually on NFL.com

Then, after getting off to a hot start in 2017, posting wins over the Tennessee Titans and New York Jets to go 2-0 to start the year. And after that – well – the wheels fell off. Completely. The Raiders would go on to endure two separate four-game losing streaks, and would win just four more games all season, to post that abysmal 6-10 record.

Whether it be because of the back injury he sustained, a drop-off in play from usually reliable players, the incompetence of Todd Downing – who really put the offensive in offensive coordinator – or some combination of all three, after that game against the Jets, Carr and Oakland’s offense flopped harder than the Toronto Raptors in the NBA playoffs.

Carr’s less-than-franchise-worthy performance in 2017 not only slightly tarnished his star, which had been on the rise, but also led to a big-time devaluation and loss of stature among his NFL peers.

In the NFL’s Top-100 players of 2017, Carr checked in at number 60 – a 49-spot tumble from his number 11 ranking among his peers last season.

While some will surely say, being ranked the sixtieth best player in the entire league is still a noteworthy achievement – and in a league that has around 1700 players, it is – it’s that precipitous drop from being just outside the top-ten to just outside the top-fifty, that’s a little eye-opening.

It’s a tumble down the poll that didn’t escape Carr’s attention, and he took to Twitter to throw his two cents in about it.

Given that little emoji string to end his Tweet, Carr – although honored to be on the list – doesn’t seem too pleased with his ranking. More specifically, his tumble down that board.

Athletes have searched for ways to motivate themselves since the dawn of sport. Whether they’ve been slighted or have to conjure up some imaginary slight, athletes are always looking for ways to give themselves a competitive edge.

A 49-spot tumble, and a ranking outside the top-fifty, slotted in behind plenty of other quarterbacks – like Case Keenum – is clearly motivating Carr. Getting him fired up. Which, bodes well for the coming year.

If the reports about Carr being too “comfortable” with Downing serving as his OC are true, not only will having somebody like HC Jon Gruden in his ear every day, along with the slight of falling out of the top-fifty players in the league, can only serve to give him a wake-up call, and a much needed harder edge.

With Gruden calling the plays and mentoring Carr in 2018, a competent coaching staff that is long on experience and has had some success, it seems likely that Oakland’s franchise signal-caller will look more like the quarterback who led the team back to the postseason in 2016, and less like the one who fell flat on his face in 2017.

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After taking a nearly fifty-spot tumble in the eyes of his peers, it seems like Carr is entering the 2018 season with a big chip on his shoulder – and the team will be better for it.