Raiders OC Greg Olson wants continuity for QB Derek Carr

OAKLAND, Calif. — Coaching staff instability has surrounded Derek Carr during his NFL career.

Greg Olson knows this. He’s part of it.

In 2014, Olson was the first offensive coordinator Carr had in the NFL. Bill Musgrave followed in 2015 and 2016. Todd Downing handled the role last season. Olson is now back as coordinator, offering some familiarity. But new Raiders coach Jon Gruden will be Carr’s fourth different play caller in five career seasons.

Gruden, too, is the quarterback’s fourth head coach in five years. Dennis Allen was fired after the fourth game of Carr’s rookie season. Tony Sparano finished 2014 on an interim basis. Jack Del Rio worked the next three.

The best possible change for Carr moving forward, Olson said, may be a lack of it.

Olson returned to Oakland this month after a couple stints elsewhere in the league. He spent the 2015 and 2016 seasons as the Jacksonville Jaguars’ offensive coordinator before working as the quarterbacks coach for the upstart Los Angeles Rams last season. He looks to contribute to a rejuvenation of the Raiders’ offense, namely as it relates to Carr.

“Probably more so than anything, this guy has to get some continuity,” Olson said in a Wednesday conference call. “The fact that they signed Jon Gruden to a 10-year contract, that’s going to provide that stability that he needs and the continuity that he’s going to need. He’s going to be in a system now. He’s going to be coached by a head coach that’s going to be the play caller. He’s completely hands-on with the quarterback position.

“That’s the first time Derek will have … an offensive head coach that has a quarterback background and will be hands-on with him on a day-to-day basis. I just see that growth curve skyrocketing because of that.”

Despite those coaching changes, Carr entered 2017 with a steady, annual growth in statistical production.

The 2016 campaign was a breakthrough year in that regard, as Carr received MVP consideration amid a 12-4 campaign. He registered a career-high 96.7 quarterback rating while completing 63.8 percent of passes for 3,937 yards, 28 touchdowns and six interceptions.

Those figures all worsened in 2017, but the narrative that Carr’s play experienced a major drop is a bit of a misnomer. There were extenuating circumstances that produced an overall adverse effect on the offense, such as a reduction in defense-produced opportunities. Carr also was the victim to poor execution around him at various times, be it poorly executed routes, dropped passes or an NFL-high six lost fumbles following a completion.

Still, Olson said that he saw a drop-off from Carr. He totaled an 86.4 rating with a 62.7 completion percentage, 3,496 passing yards, 22 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

“The previous season prior to this year, he had such a big year,” Olson said. “He still looked extremely talented again this year. You see the arm talent there. You see the talented player. Took a little, obviously, step backwards, but I just think there’s such a big jump from that Year 1 to Year 2, and he demonstrated that. He’s demonstrated growth throughout his career up until this past season.”

It’s about continuing that growth moving forward.

Olson indicated this effort will be distinctly noticeable.

“The way we script practices, the way we are doing drills, everything that we do is all about the development of the quarterback,” Olson said. “That will really speed the development of Derek. More so than anything is that there’s somebody here in place (Gruden) that’s going to make everything that we do and everyone in the building understand that we grow as Derek Carr grows.”

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Contact reporter Michael Gehlken at mgehlken@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GehlkenNFL on Twitter.