Derek Carr

The biggest winner in the aftermath of the Davante Adams trade is Derek Carr. He now has the luxury of throwing to a surplus of offensive weapons including arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL in his old college teammate.

Let's not forget that when Carr had everybody available last season, the Raiders quarterback ranked second in the NFL in passing yards and 15th in fantasy points per game. However, his ceiling was limited due to his lack of mobility and weaponry; Carr did not finish better than a top-8 quarterback at any point in 2021.

But Adams figures to provide Carr with a red-zone weapon like no other that will unlock his fantasy ceiling. He's the exact positive touchdown regression that should launch Carr's fantasy numbers. Carr's 3.7 TD rate in 2021 was below his career average (4.3). And his 23 total passing touchdowns were seven below expectation.

Fully anticipate Carr throwing for 30-plus laser scores bare minimum with Adams at his disposal. Every quarterback last season that threw for at least 30 touchdowns finished inside the top-10 in 2021.

Carr threw for 4,804 yards in 2021, beating his previous single-season high by 701 yards. However, he threw only 23 TD passes in 17 games and ranked outside the top 15 among QBs in fantasy points per game. Carr has reached 30 TD passes only once in eight NFL seasons, and he doesn't run much. The addition of WR Davante Adams, Carr's former college teammate at Fresno State, raises the ceiling here. Still, it's probably best to view Carr as a midrange QB2.

Carr had a very nice season with 4,618 passing yards and 21 passing touchdowns in the fantasy season. The Raiders should be a good offense under Josh McDaniels and Carr has QB1 upside in a good offensive system that became even more dangerous with the addition of Davante Adams.

Now gets to throw to the best WR in the game, division looks like shootout central. Such a safe QB1 now