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- Mar 19, 2019
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If a tight end is a quarterback’s security blanket, Darren Waller was a king-sized quilt for Derek Carr in last week’s win over the Jets.
Carr threw a season-high 47 passes in Week 13. Per Josh Dubow of The Associated Press, 28 of those passes came against the blitz — tying the highest mark of Carr’s career.
In those situations, Carr favored Waller.
The tight end had a career-high 200 yards receiving and tied his top figure with 13 receptions on Sunday. Carr threw to Waller 10 times when he was blitzed, those passes going for 115 yards with a touchdown — good for a 141.7 passer rating.
“Whenever you know you have a guy that it’s man-to-man coverage and you know he can win, you can confidently, against any blitz, take your drop, step up and throw him the ball,” Carr said.
A year after recording 90 receptions for 1,145 yards with three touchdowns, teams have done a better job of limiting Waller this season. He has 77 catches for 742 yards through 12 games, reducing his average yardage from 71.6 to 61.8.
But as evidenced last Sunday, Waller is still plenty reliable whenever Carr needs an outlet.