It could be said that Carr is 1 year older and playing behind a much less experienced offensive line and facing a less easy schedule of opponents in 2024 than 2023. Last year many said we would have a great record because Lattimore and Thomas's injuries in 2022 were a fluke, but it turns out that with age and risk factors injuries can be a pattern.

But in the end its ok. If we don't win a lot of games we still have our own 1st round pick so we have insurance. If we win, great, if we don't, we could be in a position to draft a QB of the future and that position will also help attract better coaching candidates than for example Carolina was able to with no 1st round pick and looking for a coach or we would have been this offseason with a later 1st round pick than our own.

Mebbe ... or mebbe we have our QB of the future already in the QB room.

I kind of wonder what if Rattler turns out to be a Teddy Bridgewater level QB. Like not great, but pretty good. If that happens, which is definitely possible not just either great or worthless, its possible we could take a new QB in the draft at some point and get a good draft pick for Rattler to down the line to help our oline. Or if our defense is great in the future, maybe a good but not great QB will be good enough.

Our Super Bowl Win was in 2010. It’s 2024, and y’all still willing to sit back and watch to see if we stink bad enough through another season, to hopefully draft better for the following season? Or is it to sit through another mediocre season to watch a team in “rebuild” mode for a few more seasons? I haven’t bought a jersey in quite a few years, so are they mailing y’all opium with a your Derek Carr jerseys? I don’t get it. Help a Brother out here.

Our Super Bowl Win was in 2010. It’s 2024, and y’all still willing to sit back and watch to see if we stink bad enough through another season, to hopefully draft better for the following season? Or is it to sit through another mediocre season to watch a team in “rebuild” mode for a few more seasons? I haven’t bought a jersey in quite a few years, so are they mailing y’all opium with a your Derek Carr jerseys? I don’t get it. Help a Brother out here.

At the very worst Derek Carr himself is "good but not great". Why look elsewhere? And that said, you'll never convince me that either Haener or Rattler can give us more than Carr anytime soon, if at all. I can't see either as more than a serviceable backup.

Oh, and as far as we know we already have all the help we need for our o-line in the house right now. Of course, seeing the possibility takes an open mind and some optimism.

Sometimes good but not great QBs become not even good around Carr's age. While some generational QBs have played at a high level into their 40's like Brady, Brees, Favre, and Manning, sometime the next tier down hits a brick wall a bit earlier. Carr is 33. Jim Everett was 31 when he joined the Saints. Drew Bledsoe was 30 when he joined the Bills and 33 when he joined the Cowboys. Donovan McNabb was 33 when he joined the Redskins. Carson Palmer was 31 when he joined the Raiders and 33 when he joined the Cardinals. Andy Dalton was 32 when he lost his starting gig with the Bengals and became a backup for the Cowboys. Joe Flacco was 33 when he was replaced by Lamar Jackson after injury and was never counted on as a season long starter again. Jimmy Garappalo turned 32 last season with the Raiders.

While I agree that Carr is a lot better than any of our other QBs now, and any mid-round QB like Haener and Rattler is more of a lottery ticket than a sure thing to ever produce, I do think its very realistic that we may need to scratch off those lottery tickets and see what we have soon because it would not be surprising for Carr to decline at this stage in his career to the point that we do start trying other options. It takes a lot more insane committment to keep up the physical and mental work to remain elite in the mid and late 30's for a QB. Sometimes, great success may facilitate extra motivation to do that, so thats why we may see the greats often able to play until 40. But the next tier down may not have the motivation to work harder than ever before and become smarter on the field than ever before to make up for their bodies starting to slow down, and instead as their bodies slow down they may throw in the towel.