Oakland Raiders: 5 most compelling storylines to follow on Hard Knocks

5. Jon Gruden/Derek Carr relationship

Whether Raiders fans would like to admit it or not, it’s clear that the team was at least doing their “due diligence” with this year’s class of quarterbacks in the draft. While that doesn’t necessarily mean that they were looking to move on from Derek Carr, it does mean that his job isn’t as safe as many believe.

Now, he’s still the unquestioned starter going into 2019 — that obviously isn’t changing. And perhaps the interest from Gruden, Mike Mayock, and company wasn’t warranted.

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But there was interest, that much is for sure. And as the old saying goes, “where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”

Expect that smoke to attract the lights and cameras of HBO as “Hard Knocks” will look to get a closer look at just how strong the relationship between head coach Jon Gruden and quarterback Derek Carr really is.

It’s likely that little events will get blown out of proportion, but that’s exactly what should be expected when it comes to shows like this. That doesn’t mean it won’t be enjoyable, it simply means that everything should be taken with a grain of salt.

At the end of the day, winning solves everything. If the Raiders win some games in 2019 and push for a playoff spot, all the talk about moving on from Carr will disappear. But if they disappoint again, the chatter will only grow louder.

It isn’t fair, but that’s just the nature of the business. And “Hard Knocks” won’t hesitate to jump at the opportunity to stir up a little quarterback drama.