It was a year ago that Andy Benoit made his name among Raider Nation when he infamously stated that Derek Carr wasn’t a top-20 quarterback.
Benoit, who writes for Sports Illustrated and theMMQB.com, poked the tiger again on Monday – this time calling into question the value of the Raiders’ offensive tackles, suggesting they are hidden by the offensive scheme.
#Raiders Notes: on deep dropbacks, OL is aided by a 6th offensive lineman. Rest of time, it’s aided by quick-strike throws.
— Andy Benoit (@Andy_Benoit) August 28, 2017
In fact, Benoit isn’t the first to question the value of the Raider offensive linemen. Raiders play-by-play voice, Greg Papa, had a similar take during Penn’s holdout.
“Part of why Derek Carr was only sacked 18 times last year is Derek Carr,” said Papa on his 95.7 The Game radio show two weeks ago. “Carr gets the ball out of his hand lightning quick… is Donald Penn a top-10 left tackle in the NFL based on his play or is it a little similar to what Peyton Manning did for years… [the Colts] didn’t put a lot of money [into the offensive line] because Peyton Manning would get the ball out of his hands.”
Whatever the case, the Raiders offensive line continues to be one of the best in the league. Deciding who deserves the credit (Mike Tice, anyone?) is a lot like solving the chicken and the egg – is it really important which came first?
twitter: @raidersbeat
Andy benoit is an idiot. Oaklands tackles gave up fewest sacks and i guess Carr was out there run blocking that led to the 6th best rushing offense. Its a team sport and all parts work together like a well oiled machine which the raiders offense is and will be. This guy geys paid to write this stuff? FML
I couldn’t have said it better! Penn’s been great! Have you seen him run blocking? And he faces the BEST PASS RUSHING DE’s every week! Pay the man!! RAIDERS!!!!!!
Benoit cant have it both ways saying on one hand Carr not so great because of OL & scheme and OL not great because of Carr. HELLO!
Honestly say what you will, but for one only one of the tackles was good…it’s def not scheme considering the right tackle whom ever has played has had around a 54-65 PFF grade and Penn runs in the mid to high 80’s. Now last year when Penn lined up at RT for a game it was completely clean high pff grade. Now the fact that the RT lines up against albeit the best pass rushers in league, could be big factor thus both tackle spots shouldn’t be graded equally, but with Penn excelling his one game at RT kinda throws a wrench in that arguement. Point is Penn is just good, sure not the best, but great enough not to deserve such trash of an article.
Now sure the sixth man was great, but they only did that cause great blocking TE Lee Smith was injured. Do other teams get scrutenized for using a TE? They also only utilize this when they ran jumbo packages…with Lee Smith back and addition of Jared cook along with injury to Denver Kirkland(player which came in mostly on jumbo packages,) I see lots of two tight end sets coming with combo of Smith, Walford, and cook. Wouldn’t be surprised if they go 3 TE in redzone.
Lol Carr not top 20 QB lol lmao..have hard time writing he isn’t top 5…crap analyst
This clown needs to be fired, I am fine with the fact that he is obviously a Raider hater but making not just ignorant but just plain dumb statements like his proves he doesn’t have a clue about football and the fact that he continues to do it shows he is a complete fool and needs to be fired
Prior to the 2016 season, it would have been a reasonable argument to say Carr wasnt a top 15 QB. He showed flashes his rook and sophomore years, but was also highly inconsistent and often took the check down instead of letting plays develop. Those in Raider Nation know that it was the talent around Carr holding him back (WR’s not getting separation, the worst RB tandem in nfl history, bottom 3 OL), we watched every moment of every game and seen beyond the stats. 2015 started off w/DC looking like a top 10 QB, but right at midseason injures swept the receiving corps and OL, and Carr wasnt experienced enough in the system or w/ his teammates to make up for the sudden loss of throwing time, lack of separation by his receivers, and a nonexistent ground game to at least have play action. 2016 changed everything though, as Carr was able to prove that with a reasonable amount of talent around him, he could succeed. All teams scheme around their best players and put them in a position to succeed, this isn’t news. Have a QB good at scrambling and extending plays? Invest in defense and weapons, sacrifice the OL. Have a pocket passing QB who can make any throw and is great at anticipation and timing? Build him a solid OL (which also helps the ground game be successful even without top tier RB’s) and he can make average receivers look great (I love Crabtree, but he’s having the best seasons of his career for a reason, and washed out of SF for a reason). Coop has the potential to be great, and be Carr’s teammate for the majority of both their respective careers. But he hasn’t been great so far, only flashes, and he fades late in the season which puts more pressure on Carr. In all, the scheme is tailored to keep the number of sacks to a minimum, but at the same time any and all teams would do the exact same thing if they had the personnel to pull it off, so it’s not like it’s a knock on Carr or the OL. The 6th OL was to help the RT, not Penn, who graded out above average according to PFF and nearly elite in pass pro. Benoit (balls) seems to enjoy blowing little things out of proportion, taking the insignificant to the extreme. All great QB’s start their careers being mediocre and develop into great QB’s over time, if the team invests in talent around them and gives them enough time. QB’s who are immediately successful as rookies tend to flame out just as quickly. The Raiders have their franchise QB, and he will only get better bc RM is giving him everything he needs to develop into an elite QB.