Raiders News: Jon Gruden Says Derek Carr Has ‘Right Stuff’

The 2017 NFL season was not kind to the Oakland Raiders, as they finished with a 6-10 record and missed the 2017 NFL playoffs. The Raiders were pegged as a potential Super Bowl candidate, but fell woefully short of those expectations, prompting the front office to make drastic changes like hiring Jon Gruden back to coach the silver and black.

Gruden, who was an analyst for Monday Night Football, has been away from the sidelines for a decade now and the jury is still out on whether or not he can effectively lead Oakland back to the playoffs. Gruden, so far, has voiced his confidence in being able to coach again as he has said he was watching film and diagramming plays during his off time.

Now, he will be tasked with continuing to develop Derek Carr in his West Coast offensive scheme and according Paul Gutierrez of ESPN, Gruden already has high remarks for the quarterback:

Even in an up-and-down 2017 NFL campaign, Carr’s natural ability to lead the team was apparent and vital in ensuring the Raiders did not come apart at the seams. Gruden has already mentioned that he needs Marshawn Lynch to be the real deal and will definitely look to hold Carr to the same standard as the captain of Oakland’s roster.

For now, however, the silver and black have plenty of issues to address from a team-building standpoint. It will be interesting to see how the franchise flushes the roster with talent in the coming months.