Derek Carr hasn’t been a great passer around the goal line – not enough touchdowns for the yards he put up last year. But if he falls short again this season, it won’t be for a lack of weapons.
With the Raiders having traded for Davante Adams, they’ve now got their hands on three of the best receiving weapons in goal-to-go situations. Adams, Hunter Renfrow and Darren Waller have all been good in that part of the field.
In the last two years, only 12 times has a player caught 9 passes inside the 10-yard line in a season. The Raiders now own the rights to a third of those seasons.
The numbers appear below, and on this one, I’m including 2-point conversion attempts. Those are actually official plays, but they help to paint the picture, so I’m leaving them in there. Dealer’s choice (and I’m showing all players with at least 10 targets).
| RECEIVING INSIDE THE 10 (last 2 yrs) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Tgt | Rec | TD | 2Pt | Pct |
| 2020 | Davante Adams, G.B. | 19 | 17 | 13 | 0 | 68% |
| 2020 | Adam Thielen, Min. | 15 | 12 | 10 | 1 | 73% |
| 2021 | Cooper Kupp, LAR | 19 | 12 | 9 | 0 | 47% |
| 2021 | Mark Andrews, Balt. | 16 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 56% |
| 2020 | Darren Waller, L.V. | 13 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 54% |
| 2020 | Tyreek Hill, K.C. | 12 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 50% |
| 2021 | Davante Adams, G.B. | 14 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 50% |
| 2020 | Travis Kelce, K.C. | 14 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 57% |
| 2020 | Mike Evans, T.B. | 16 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 56% |
| 2020 | Jimmy Graham, Chi. | 12 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 50% |
| 2021 | Hunter Renfrow, L.V. | 14 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 43% |
| 2021 | Mike Evans, T.B. | 11 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 73% |
| 2021 | Pat Freiermuth, Pitt. | 10 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 60% |
| 2021 | Stefon Diggs, Buff. | 14 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 36% |
| 2021 | Keenan Allen, LAC | 13 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 46% |
| 2021 | Diontae Johnson, Pitt. | 13 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 38% |
| 2021 | Dawson Knox, Buff. | 10 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 40% |
| 2020 | Calvin Ridley, Atl. | 13 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 46% |
| 2021 | DJ Moore, Car. | 10 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 50% |
| 2020 | Brandon Aiyuk, S.F. | 10 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 50% |
| 2020 | Jonnu Smith, Ten. | 10 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 60% |
| 2021 | Michael Pittman, Ind. | 10 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 30% |
| 2020 | DeAndre Hopkins, Ariz. | 11 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 18% |
| 2020 | Christian Kirk, Ariz. | 10 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 40% |
| 2020 | Hayden Hurst, Atl. | 10 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 40% |
| 2020 | Rob Gronkowski, T.B. | 10 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 40% |
| 2021 | Zach Ertz, 2tms | 10 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 40% |
| 2020 | Justin Jefferson, Min. | 11 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 27% |
| 2021 | Mike Williams, LAC | 13 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 23% |
| 2020 | DK Metcalf, Sea. | 10 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 40% |
| 2021 | Randall Cobb, G.B. | 11 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 36% |
| 2021 | Marvin Jones, Jac. | 10 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 20% |
| 2020 | Chase Claypool, Pitt. | 12 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 25% |
| 2020 | Amari Cooper, Dall. | 10 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 20% |
| 2021 | A.J. Green, Ariz. | 12 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8% |
| 2021 | Justin Jefferson, Min. | 12 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 25% |
With luck (knock on wood), Adams will be the added weapon that helps turn some field goal attempts into touchdowns. Carr didn’t do a good enough job of getting the ball in the end zone last year. The Raiders finished 6th in passing, but Carr threw only 23 touchdowns.
Last year there were 11 games in which a quarterback threw for at least 370 yards but didn’t throw at least 3 TDs. Carr did it four times. No other quarterback did it more than once, and only seven others did it at all.
| MOST YARDS WITHOUT 3 TD PASSES | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Opp | Score | Com | Att | Yds | TD | Int |
| Derek Carr, L.V. | Balt. | W 33-27 | 34 | 56 | 435 | 2 | 1 |
| Tom Brady, T.B. | at LAR | L 24-34 | 41 | 55 | 432 | 1 | 0 |
| Carson Wentz, Ind. | at Balt. | L 25-31 | 25 | 35 | 402 | 2 | 0 |
| Daniel Jones, NYG | at N.O. | W 27-21 | 28 | 40 | 402 | 2 | 1 |
| Patrick Mahomes, K.C. | at Was. | W 31-13 | 32 | 47 | 397 | 2 | 2 |
| Jalen Hurts, Phil. | K.C. | L 30-42 | 32 | 48 | 387 | 2 | 0 |
| Derek Carr, L.V. | Mia. | W 31-28 | 26 | 43 | 386 | 2 | 1 |
| Kyler Murray, Ariz. | LAR | L 23-30 | 32 | 49 | 383 | 0 | 2 |
| Derek Carr, L.V. | at Pitt. | W 26-17 | 28 | 37 | 382 | 2 | 0 |
| Dak Prescott, Dall. | L.V. | L 33-36 | 32 | 47 | 375 | 2 | 0 |
| Derek Carr, L.V. | at Dall. | W 36-33 | 24 | 39 | 373 | 1 | 0 |
—Ian Allan