After weighing their options amid their Wild Card round defeat against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Las Vegas Raiders have officially introduced Josh McDaniels as their next head coach. With interim boss Rich Bisaccia no longer in the picture, McDaniels and Co. are getting to work at building the best possible roster for 2022.
Naturally, that comes with questions at the quarterback position, but McDaniels put any doubt regarding Derek Carr's future with the franchise to rest. Via Josh Dubow, McDaniels suggested Carr will be back as the team's starter in 2022.
“He certainly did a good job this year leading this offense,” said McDaniels during his introductory press conference. “We have the capacity and capability of winning here with Derek at quarterback. We know that.”
Josh McDaniels on #Raiders Derek Carr: "He certainly did a good job this year leading this offense. … We have the capacity and capability of winning here with Derek at quarterback. We know that."
— Josh Dubow (@JoshDubowAP) January 31, 2022
Carr had a solid season in 2021, during which he navigated the various obstacles thrown at the team, including Henry Ruggs' arrest, Jon Gruden's firing, and the rough midseason form that followed. Despite all that, Carr led the Raiders to a playoff berth and enjoyed one of his best seasons in the NFL. In 2021, Carr threw for 23 touchdown passes and 14 interceptions, while completing 68.4% of his pass attempts for a career-high 4,804 yards.
While Carr and several other key Raiders expressed their desire to see Bisaccia return in 2022, owner Mark Davis didn't seem to share their sentiment, ultimately parting ways with Bisaccia in favor of McDaniels. In addition to the former New England Patriots OC, Davis and the Raiders poached Patriots general manager Dave Ziegler to step into the same role in Las Vegas.
Davis has expressed a lot of faith in the disciples from Bill Belichick's coaching tree, and in turn, McDaniels has shared some of his confidence that Carr is the right man for the job.
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