Greg Olson: Derek Carr will be better when ‘surrounded by better players'

Lately we have seen some regression from rookie quarterback Derek Carr for the Raiders. He continues to show flashes of the abilities that had him drafted at the top of the second round and had the Raiders making him their opening day starter, but the results have not been there.

This of course is not all his fault. It may not even be primarily his fault. One can point the finger in many different areas on this awful Oakland offense. But the questions about whether to make a change at quarterback as a desperation move to try and get a win this season are getting louder with each pass week the Raiders falter.

The question was posed in the 42-17 rout at the hands of the Broncos two weeks ago, to which Sparano said he asked Carr about leaving the game and Carr wanted to remain in the game.

The question was asked again about whether pulling Carr was an option following the loss to the Chargers last Sunday in which the Raiders could only put two field goals on the board and lost 13-6. Sparano said he "never had that conversation on the sideline."

When I asked Sparano at what point he might consider making a change at quarterback, he said "I don't see that happening right now."

Sparano also insists Carr has shown progress in certain areas, though the overall play may not show it. His offensive coordinator said similar on Tuesday when speaking of his rookie signal caller.

"Maybe to the naked eye, you may not see the developments in him, but I see it every week," said Olson. "He's a rookie. He's gonna play a lot better football in the future for the Raiders. I think he's gonna be surrounded by better players in the future which will help make him better, but he's also just a rookie and there's always gonna be some growing pains depending upon the situation that player gets thrown into. . . he's gonna be part of this growing process here for the Oakland Raiders and I think the experience is gonna serve him well."

There's little doubt that a different situation with a better group around Carr would help him a great deal. The offensive line has struggled to protect him and struggled even more in establishing a running game to take pressure off of him. His receivers have also not been able to consistently get open and win match-ups with corners.

It's a lot of areas of need, but the Raiders think they have their guy in Derek Carr. They want to keep him in games this season for the sake of his development and hope to build this team around him for the future. At least that's the plan "right now".

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