ALAMEDA — When Derek Carr was a rookie, Raiders receiver and former Green Bay Packer James Jones took one look at the way the ball came out of his hand and labeled him “Baby A-Rod” because of a resemblance to Aaron Rodgers.

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What’s holding back Raiders’ Derek Carr? Football’s most basic statistic Jared Cook can relate.

Like Jones, Cook didn’t hesitate in comparing the Raiders fourth-year quarterback to Rodgers, who is the NFL’s all-time leader in passer rating at 104.1 and a likely Hall of Famer.

“Yeah, absolutely,” Cook said during a media session Tuesday before ticking off the reasons why the comparison is valid. “Ball placement, able to read coverages on the move, able to read defenders on the receiver and able to put the ball where it needs to be for completion ratings and success on an offense.”

Cook, at 6-foot-5, 254 pounds, provides an imposing presence for the Raiders in the middle of the field. He caught 30 passes for 377 yards in 10 games for Green Bay and then excelled in the postseason with 18 catches for 229 yards in three games, including a miracle sideline catch that helped deliver a 34-31 win over Dallas.

It came when Rodgers rolled to his opposite side and throwing against his body, whipped a 35-yard first down strike to Cook who executed a toe drag to stay in bounds.

It was a throw only a few quarterbacks could make — and now Cook has played with two of them in two years.

Cook said Carr and Rodgers are similar in their approach and mental discipline.

“They know the offense and that’s really important for a quarterback, especially a young quarterback, to know the moving pieces and what’s going on around you,” Cook said. “No. 2 would probably be ball placement and the way that comes out . . . it’s imperative for your receivers to have that rapport with you and know you’re going to throw the ball in certain situations away from a defender.

“(Derek) does a really good job with that, especially being such a young quarterback. I’ve played with older guys and that don’t know how to have that right touch to get the ball to where the receiver needs it. D.C. has that down.”

In Green Bay last season, Rodgers had a 25-to-1 touchdown pass-to-interception ratio and a 114.0 passer rating with Cook in the line up and was 15 to 6 and 92.3 without him. After Cook returned in Week 11 following an injury, Rodgers was 10 of 13 for 175 yards and a 118.2 rating on third down throwing to his tight end.

Carr believes Cook will be a weapon as well as draw defenders so he can find other open receivers.

“The possibilities are endless when you add a guy at that position that has that much speed vertically,” Carr said. “The things you can do with him really put a lot of stress on the defense.”

Offensive coordinator Todd Downing concurs.

“He’s a big, long guy, runs really well, stretches the field vertically inside,” Downing said. “He’s a matchup nightmare for linebackers and most safeties. He really brings a sense in the passing game of a mismatch that we can count on week in and week out.”

The presence of Carr and Downing’s system, along with a two-yeaer, $10.6 million contract offer, was too enticing for the 30-year-old Cook to pass up in free agency.

“That was one huge reason why I wanted to come here after I visited, because of the way they utilize the tight end and the way that they read the offense,” Cook said. “It’s been efficient for everyone in the tight end meeting room as well as every other position on how we run our complementary routes off each other.”