Derek Carr had one of the best seasons of his career in 2021 as he threw for 4,804 yards and led the Raiders to the playoffs. He was able to throw for a bunch of yards despite having subpar receivers and one of the league’s worst offensive lines.
So with improvements in both of those spots this offseason, is there a chance that Carr could lead the NFL in passing yards?
In a recent article by Adam Schein of NFL Media, he recently predicted that Carr would lead the NFL in passing yards this season. Here is a quick snippet of his thoughts on Carr and the type of season he could have this year:
“Fresh off a fantastic season that saw him flirt with 5,000 yards, Carr is going to absolutely sizzle in 2022 under offensive guru Josh McDaniels. Especially now that he’s playing with his bestie, Davante Adams.
Carr will blow past 5,000 passing yards, humming with Adams, slot machine Hunter Renfrow and mismatch tight end Darren Waller. His confidence will be at an all-time high, and the Raiders will reap the benefits.”
Carr actually led the NFL in passing yards for the first several weeks of the 2021 season before falling into a bit of a slump in the final eight games of the season. That wasn’t unexpected as the team had lost Henry Ruggs (released) and Darren Waller (injury) for most of that time.
But in the first eight games of the season, Carr averaged over 320 passing yards per game. If he was able to repeat those numbers for all 17 games, he would throw for more than 5,400 yards in a season.
That doesn’t seem quite realistic, but eclipsing 5,000 yards in 2022 isn’t out of the question, especially now that he’ll have Adams. Don’t be surprised if Carr does finally lead the NFL in passing yards this year after finishing fifth last year.
