KC Chiefs: Biggest red flag for each AFC West team in 2020
By Chris Clark
Every AFC West Team’s Biggest Red Flag – Las Vegas Raiders: Derek Carr
The Las Vegas Raiders have some red flags that are already visible for 2020. The move to a new city, the lack of a talented roster, and a questionable head coach all seem to be sizable red flags, just to name a few.
The adjustment of moving to a new city and settling into a new fanbase always takes time and may hinder their ability to succeed for a period of time. The Raiders only sent two players to the Pro Bowl in 2019, neither of which were skill position players.
Their choice of a head coach also raises some questions about his legitimacy. For being such a highly-touted coaching commodity, Jon Gruden‘s career record of 106 wins to 102 losses leaves a lot to be desired.
These are all red flags to some degree, but may not be as big as their biggest red flag – the quarterback position. What seemed to be the most secure spot on the roster just a few seasons ago, now has some major concerns.
Derek Carr became the NFL’s highest-paid player in the summer of 2017 and was quickly becoming one of the league’s brightest stars. As quickly as he was rising, the arrival of Jon Gruden just as quickly slowed down that meteoric rise.
In just two short years, Carr went from the NFL’s highest-paid quarterback to his team bringing in a quarterback that could take the starting spot in 2020. It didn’t seem to take long for the Raiders to make a move on the former Tennessee Titan and 2015 number two overall draft pick, Marcus Mariota.
After losing his starting job to Ryan Tannehill in Tennesse, the Titans felt that Mariota was expendable heading into this last offseason. That doesn’t mean that Mariota isn’t a starting-caliber quarterback, though, and that he couldn’t pull a Tannehill and unseat Carr in Vegas.
Headed into 2020, this has the potential to create a quarterback controversy with Carr likely already looking over his shoulder. It may turn out to be no big deal but at this point, the potential damage that a quarterback controversy can do is the Raiders’ biggest red flag headed into the 2020 season.