According to head coach Jack Del Rio, the Raiders plan to give Derek Carr more freedom within the offense going forward.
“In terms of what we do with Derek, we think he is really good at operating out of a no huddle,” Del Rio told season ticket holders in a conference call on Tuesday. “Being able to see what the defense wants to do, about giving him more and more leeway at the line, and more opportunity to get us out of bad plays, and into good plays. We just feel like with a quarterback with his talents, that we have to take advantage of that, and so absolutely, we’re going to look to do more of that as we go.”
The Raiders offense was outstanding in 2016, but occasionally seemed to bog down with scripted plays – particularly early in games.
Del Rio was borderline critical of former Raiders offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave and play calling was believed to be a point of contention between the two. Musgrave was replaced by 36 year-old Todd Downing, but Carr figures to take some of the pressure off the first-time coordinator – at least in terms of play calling.
If the “new” offense is anything like what Carr orchestrated late in games last season, it could be a long year for opposing defenses.
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