Oakland Raiders: Assessing Derek Carr, Amari Cooper debuts

As might be expected after the first pre-season game, especially after a victory, optimism is brewing for the Oakland Raiders faithful. The fans were chomping at the bit to see their new duo in the passing game of young quarterback Derek Carr and 2015 first round pick Amari Cooper.

It was a decent debut for both, but headlines like this one made me wonder what I missed…

Cooper, who touched the ball a total of four times offensively, wound up with 25 yards on those four touches. He had three catches for 22 yards and a three yard end-around.

Carr himself looked fine until a telegraphed throw in the red zone wound up an interception for the St. Louis Rams and a bitter end to what should have been a touchdown drive.

To me, I think it’s important to keep an even keeled perspective on what’s going on with these two in Oakland. There were games last year where Derek Carr shined and looked like a franchise quarterback, and there were times when he looked like he didn’t have a clue what he was doing.

I think the long term projection for both of these guys is extremely positive, but we didn’t see anything in this first preseason game that would warrant the headline our friends at FOX Sports tweeted out. For all intents and purposes, it was a pretty vanilla debut for both, and there’s nothing wrong with that nor was it unexpected.

These guys are going to be great for years to come, but the key is patience. Carr learned that the hard way on that interception in the end zone, and he vowed after the game that they would clean that up come time for the regular season and all the years they have together in Oakland.

These two are the foundation of what is going to be one of the NFL’s most improved passing games. I loved the catch and run from Michael Crabtree and think he could be a very important offseason acquisition. Brice Butler made a lot of plays in this game, including a touchdown.

The Raiders are going to be improved this season, but that improvement can’t be rushed. It will come and as the pre-season progresses, we’ll see the playbook open up a little bit more and we’ll get to see more of what this dynamic duo is capable of. One thing is clear at this point — they have chemistry together, and for Raiders fans, that means a ton of looks for Cooper this season.

Rest assured, he will take advantage.

Next: Brock Osweiler shines Friday night for Broncos