Dec 21, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) walks off the field after the Raiders defeated the Buffalo Bills 26-24 at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

Depending on who you ask, what stat you look at and how you spin the numbers, Derek Carr either had one of the best rookie seasons of all time, or one of the worst. Personally, given the situation the young man stepped into, I think he did a phenomenal job. We all know the story, all the challenges he faced. Rookie QB expecting to sit a year, earns the starting job. Number one wide receiver goes down early in the season. No running game behind him, bad coaching, the list goes on.

Despite all of this Carr was still able to rank in the Top 10 in many categories for a rookie QB in the history of the NFL, and sure he had a terrible yards per attempt stat, and a not a very good completion percentage on deep balls. Personally, I don’t think all of that can be on Derek, the coaches were using screen passes instead of runs, and the receivers could barely get open…and when they did they’d drop the ball. Tack onto that, the offensive line didn’t perform nearly as well as it got credit for.

What people are not talking about with Derek Carr is how many lessons we watched him learn last season. We went from watching him grow from a rookie QB not wanting to step on anyone’s toes, to a confident leader of men. We watched him learn humility, and teamwork by failing to try and carry the team on his own. We saw him develop patience, and that games are not won with a single play.

In an interview I did with Derek Carr shortly after the Raiders season ended, he admitted to trying to do too much, trying to carry the team. Once he realized he was forcing bad throws and causing turn overs by doing this, he corrected it. It takes a special kind of person to take that honest of a look into how you are handling a situation, decide to take action and change. Not many players, let along rookies have the ability to admit that.

So, what’s in store for this young man in his sophomore season? If I’m just looking at the team around him, the coaching staff he’s playing for this year, and add that up with the common leap most players have between Year 1 and Year 2, I’m expecting great things from Derek Carr.