As preseason camps heat up, so are the rookie quarterbacks in Oakland and Jacksonville. In Oakland, it's former Texans quarterback Matt Schaub taking on Derek Carr, the rookie phenom out of Fresno State who is the brother of former Houston quarterback David Carr. And so far, it's a close race.
Blake Bortles, Derek Carr holding their own in training camp position battles
Are the young quarterbacks ready to turn around their respective franchises?
Phil Sears-USA TODAY Sports
"Derek and Schaubby are two different quarterbacks in that realm," head coach Dennis Allen said. "Derek adds a dimension with his mobility and his ability to create when things don't go exactly right. Today, it was good to see that he was decisive in his choice to run."
Carr was a stud at Fresno State, passing for more than 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns in his senior year alone. And although he didn't run with the ball much with the Bulldogs, the Raiders see him as a potential dual-threat guy. Schaub had a few solid years with Houston before dropping off last year and being traded to Oakland.
While Carr might be the quarterback of the future, Schaub has been the one impressing in practice so far. As the article points out, he’s been more accurate on his passes, and he’s an established veteran who has led teams to the playoffs.
Carr’s athleticism might be impressive, but his statistics show that he’s not a “running quarterback” — he had just 40 carries for 117 yards while at Fresno State — and he’s going to need to improve his accuracy as a passer if he wants to beat out Schaub for the starting job.
In Jacksonville, Blake Bortles figures to be the Jaguars' quarterback of the future, but he's had to learn the ropes from veteran backup Ricky Stanzi so far. Through the first part of camp, the team is impressed by his progress.
"One of the things that you ask of him is to come in here and not just start from Day 1 again," Fisch said. "We didn't want Groundhog Day. We didn't want a repeat performance. We didn't want it to be like nothing's changed from the day before, so for him it was a matter of how much is he going to know, and how much is he going to recall?
"What he showed me is that it wasn't just what he recalled, but he actually dug deeper into the plays: 'So then, Coach are you saying to me if it's this coverage then I'm supposed to go here?' That's something he was able to take from the four weeks prior."
However, Bortles is competing against Chad Henne, who enters his second year in Jedd Fisch's offense and looks like the favorite to land the starting job once the regular season rolls around. While Bortles has the potential and seems to be learning quickly, Henne still has the leg up on experience.
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