Lowell Cohn: Raiders' Derek Carr wise beyond his years, but still young

Regarding Derek Carr:

First Question to Self: He is only 25 and he’s just in his third NFL season and he’s already very good. How did he get good so fast?

Answer: He grew up with football. It is the air he breathes. When he entered the league in 2014, he already was precocious. Wise beyond his years. Had been exposed to the NFL through his brother David, the first overall pick in the 2002 draft by Houston.

Derek saw the magnitude of the whole thing early, was at the draft in NY with David. Had watched film with his brother as a matter of course. Was way ahead of the learning curve when the Raiders drafted him.

Saw how David’s career didn’t work out. David got sacked a ton in Texas, took a beating - physically and emotionally. Watching this, Derek grew up fast - we’re talking in football years. Derek witnessed it all.

So, when Derek Carr came to the Raiders in 2014, he was older than his age - in certain ways. More on that in a moment.

Second Question to Self: What does Derek Carr do well?

Answer: His release is perfect. Think Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers. Carr has what coaches call “a fast-twitch release,” or “a snap release.” Gets the ball out of there in a flash.

He has amazing pocket sense and, because he feels pressure so well, he can extend plays and create plays with just a little movement in the pocket. As pass rushers bear down on him, he keeps his eyes downfield. Many other guys feel pressure, drop their eyes and immediately think about escaping the pocket instead of evading the rush. They bolt and run.

Of course, I’m referring to Colin Kaepernick. He used to be good. And then a few years ago, his career incinerated. Who knows why? Who cares?

Kaepernick digression here. Can’t help myself. He recently outraged Miami writers by wearing a T-shirt with Fidel Castro’s face on it. He had the nerve to defend the dictator Castro in a conference call with Miami writers, some of them Cuban. We send our condolences to Kaepernick on the death of his hero Castro.

Back to football. Unlike Carr, Kaepernick cannot do quarterback things when he faces pressure.

He flees the pocket. He is a good runner, but a quarterback needs to hang in there and throw. Throw the ball.

Which Carr does. He is a gorgeous thrower and will get even better.

Third Question to Self: What does Carr need to improve?

Answer: He needs to get older.

OK, being young is not Carr’s fault. He can’t do anything about it. And he will grow older, like the rest of us. But his flaws, if you can call them flaws, are related to youth.

Like what happened Monday night against Houston. That pick he threw in the middle of the field. Very bad play. Young play. College quarterback play. The kind of stuff he did last season when he’d lose games in the fourth quarter.

Here’s what happened on the play. Carr ran a bootleg right. There was pressure. The play was a dead duck. He should have thrown the ball away. He didn’t. He bought time and he waited, and for some odd reason, he tossed a Hail Mary. Interception. Game in danger.Let’s be clear about this. A quarterback cannot allow himself those bad decisions. So much rides on what the quarterback decides to do, and decides what not to do.

The QB has to be smart. “The play isn’t there. I can throw the ball away - I’m outside the tackle box so I won’t get called for intentional grounding. I refuse to take a wild chance on this throw when I have no vision and, even worse, when I’m moving away from where I’m throwing the ball.”

I don’t imagine any quarterback has time for that internal dialog - in a novel he would - but you get the idea. Carr did everything wrong.

That shows he’s still enduring growing pains, still has another level to reach when he understands the dividends and benefits and risks on every throw he makes. Every single throw. He had no business making that throw. Needed to realize the best pass was an incompletion instead of that dirigible he launched down the heart of the field.

A bit of football philosophy here. Carr is brash. That is good up to a point. To be over-brash is bad - can kill a team. So let’s say against Houston, Carr reverted to a juvenile habit. You can bet Jack Del Rio talked to him about it, explained the impact on the whole ball club of that bad decision. One bad pass can undo 10 good ones.

It is known that Carr is over-amped early in games. He’s an excitable guy. The coaches call high-percentage, easy throws early to temper his emotions. To allow the game to unfold slowly until he feels settled.

Please don’t think I’m ripping Carr. He will outgrow these defects of youth. He already is outgrowing them.

Fourth Question to Self: Whom can we compare Carr to - to get a feel for how good Carr is and can be?

Rich Gannon. Let’s use him as a measuring stick. Gannon was an excellent quarterback for the Raiders - took them to a Super Bowl. Everyone respects Gannon.

According to me, Carr can be better than Gannon. That’s how much I respect him.

Gannon in Oakland was a creation of the Jon Gruden passing game. Mostly short passes. Gruden hated to throw the ball more than 10 yards. Had a horror of it. That was one of the disagreements between Gruden and Al Davis. Davis loved the vertical game, as you know. He wanted several long-pass plays in every game plan. In this regard, Gruden failed Davis, although Gruden was a good coach.

Gannon was an accurate short passer, thrived under Gruden. But Gannon was limited in ways Carr is not. Carr offers more. A short game and a long game. Carr has everything. Touch, accuracy, arm strength, and the ability to work all areas of the field horizontally and vertically. He ranks 10th in completion percentage putting him in there with some heady company.

He is a quarterback dream in the making. Around here, we haven’t seen anyone like him since Steve Young and Joe Montana. Will he reach their level? We’ll find out. Watching that narrative unfold is thrilling.

For more on the world of sports, go to the Cohn Zohn at cohn.blogs.pressdemocrat.com. You can reach Staff Columnist Lowell Cohn at lowell.cohn@pressdemocrat.com.