If you’ve been watching the Raiders at all, you probably already know who Derek Carr is most comfortable throwing the ball to this year. On Thursday, Derek’s brother, David, confirmed your suspicions.
“Honestly, when you talk to Derek, he favors Jared Cook over all the receivers,” Carr told Damon Bruce on his 95.7 The Game radio program. “I mean, he says, ‘I trust Jared more than anybody.’ Because he’s constantly made plays for him since he showed up.”
“We already know, tight end’s are quarterback’s best friends,” Carr added. “So, I mean, you ask Tony Romo, even when he had Dez Bryant, who his favorite target was, he’s going to say Jason Witten. That’s no secret. It’s kind of interesting because they always have, with tight ends, they just have better matchups. And if you can get a big, physical guy that can run and get in and out of breaks, they’re just going to be better than linebackers and safeties that are covering them.”
Cook not only leads the Raiders in targets (35) this year, but he has consistently made plays in big moments over the past two years. Carr has regularly jumped on opportunities to throw the ball to Cook in single coverage situations – so much that Cook is remarkably on pace for 104 receptions and 1,480 receiving yards.
Since he came into the league in 2014, Carr seems to have always preferred bigger receivers that can go up and make catches. Michael Crabtree was the beneficiary of those throws for years and Cook has now stepped into the role.
As for Amari Cooper, it would be nice if he could find the consistency to be the Raiders no. 1 option, but yet again that hasn’t quite been the case. Even so, Cooper and Jordy Nelson are on pace to end up with more than 1,000 yards receiving this year.
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