As a former first-overall NFL Draft pick, David Carr is uniquely qualified to comment on just what it takes to become a high-quality starter in the National Football League. While David may have never reached that level and ultimately failed to live up to his lofty draft status thanks to an abysmal offensive line in Houston, younger brother Derek seems like he has every chance of summiting that elite plateau during his second NFL offseason with the Oakland Raiders.
"He understands the game more than I did, so his confidence level is just off the charts," David said of Derek, while talking to Guy Haberman and John Middlekauff of 95.7 The Game, via Raiders.com. "[His] leadership ability is kind of where I was never at early on in my career. He's able to go out and get guys that are seven, eight years older than him to actually buy in to what he's doing, and believe that he can play, and believe that he can go out and lead the team."
While Carr may remain a "maybe" as a bonafide franchise signal-caller, this isn't the first time Carr's abilities as a leader have been touted this offseason - veteran Raiders tackle Donald Penn suggested earlier this month that Carr was already the clear-cut leader for the offense and the franchise.
"The guy comes in at five o'clock every morning," Penn said at the time. "Nobody knows that. He gets in at five o'clock every morning. He's there before the coaches. The coaches see him in the meeting room and he's already going over film looking at stuff, and he has a grasp of this offense."
Perhaps just as important, if not more important than his intangibles, are Carr's ample physical abilities and, specifically, his arm.
"He just has a natural ability to throw the ball, just effortlessly, and it's not really difficult for him," David said. "It literally is effortless for him to throw the football."
That was put on full display earlier this week when Carr posted an Instagram video of himself tossing practice passes with precision and velocity.
Carr has been hampered by a finger injury that has limited him for much of Oakland's offseason work thus far, but the video combined with recent reports suggest that Carr should be ready to go by training camp.
"He's worked so hard in the offseason, just getting his body where it needs to be," David said. "I think they're going to be ready to go when it comes August, and when they start going to these preseason games it's going to be fun to watch."
