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This story appears in ESPN The Magazines December 12 issue. Subscribe today!Go back to Week 1. Raiders vs. Saints. Its the beginning of the fourth quarter, and Oakland is losing 24-13. Third-year quarterback Derek Carr takes a snap, drops back a few steps and then surveys the field--calmly, like a father waiting for his children to appear on the steps of their school. After a moment passes, he slings a beautifully arched pass to wide receiver Amari Cooper, who has somehow crept behind the Saints secondary. Its a 43-yard gain and another highlight-reel throw for Carr.Now go back and watch again. Instead of waiting for Carr to release the ball, pay attention to everything that happens beforehand. Watch the Raiders tackles shoot their arms out and manhandle their defenders, while the guards refuse to cede an inch. Watch the chasm that opens up between the offensive line and the quarterback, an expanse of green that never seems to close. Watch the clock as the seconds tick by.Thats what Derek Carr remembers from that day. The time and the space and, more than anything, the smacking of pads and the crunching of bones and the terrible cries of mountain-sized men being knocked around by his blockers. He remembers dropping behind his offensive line as thunderous collisions unfolded in front of him, bearing witness to a level of violence that still leaves him awestruck.You can see it on film and you can see it on TV and you can see it in person, he says. But when youre behind it?Behind 10-foot eyelashes, his blue eyes widen.You can hear it.There comes a point in every story about Derek Carr when his older brothers name is invoked, typically as source material for the young quarterbacks innate gifts -- and, until recently, his perceived flaws. David Carr, the Houston Texans No. 1 overall pick in the 2002 draft, famously went bust. When Derek entered the draft in 2014, he had put up Heisman-worthy numbers at Fresno State, but Davids story lingered in scouting reports like a bad Yelp review, and several QB-starved teams (including Houston) passed on the younger brother, sending him tumbling into the second round.Their loss. After two and a half seasons with the Raiders, Derek has bloomed into a viable MVP candidate, steering his team to seven wins on the back of an exhilarating aerial attack. Heading into Monday nights tilt with the Texans in Mexico City, he has thrown 17 TDs and just three interceptions, a ratio that puts him in elite company and could set him up for a mammoth new deal. When the ball is in his hands late in the game, everybody believes something big is gonna happen, says Matt Hasselbeck, a former NFL quarterback who now works as an ESPN analyst. I saw that with Brett Favre when I was his teammate.And so it is that Dereks story has finally subsumed his origin myth -- and that his brothers failure, once an indelible part of that record, has faded away like a discredited theory. But to ignore it would also be a mistake. Because while Carr has risen on the strength of his unique talents, he has soared because of the giants who stand in front of him -- those violent actors who buy him room to breathe, a luxury David never experienced as a young quarterback. Ive been able to see complete, total opposite sides of it, Carr says. I saw my brother in Houston have nothing. And I have our offensive line, which I think is the best in the NFL.The contrast is astonishing. David, who played behind a rotating cast of human turnstiles on the then newly formed Texans, was sacked a record 76 times during his rookie year, which is more than Derek has been taken down since entering the NFL. This year the Raiders offensive line has allowed just 11 sacks and 21 quarterback hits, ranking first in the league through Week 10. Theyve held up against stiff competition. The Broncos dominant front seven, which entered their Nov. 6 game against the Raiders with the best pressure percentage of any team since 2008, according to ESPN Stats & Information, hassled Carr on a mere 21 percent of his dropbacks, Denvers worst performance to that point of the season.To hear Carr tell it, battling Von Miller & Co. was like flying over traffic in a private jet. We just played the best pass rushers in the NFL and it was the most comfortable Ive felt, he says. The Raiders began building the current iteration of the line in 2014, the year rookie Carr became the teams starter. Right tackle Menelik Watson was already on the roster; GM Reggie McKenzie added left tackle Donald Penn in free agency, then selected Gabe Jackson, the teams right guard, in the draft. The Raiders signed veteran center Rodney Hudson in 2015, then splurged a year later on Kelechi Osemele, arguably the leagues most formidable guard. To ensure that Osemele could continue playing inside, McKenzie re-signed Penn, and the line that fans call Carr Insurance was born.This influx of talent has come at a price. Thanks in part to their quarterbacks cheap contract, the Raiders currently devote $37.7 million in cap dollars to the offensive line, $3 million more than what any other team pays. When asked if hes aware of how expensive his line is, Carr nods. As it should be, he says. Mr. McKenzie told me from the beginning, when I was named the starter, he said, Were gonna build this thing around you. They see that Im valuable to them. They want to protect me.Donald Penn remembers the first time he saw Derek Carr at training camp. As he and the other starters looked on, the rookie quarterback fired bombs to the Raiders backups, showing off his crisp, flawless throwing motion. I was like, This kids got something about him, Penn says. He carried himself with a swagger.Penn -- older, tattooed, a little brash -- would seem to have little in common with Carr, who is almost comically wholesome, the sort of athlete destined to star in ads for milk and comfortable jeans. Ive never heard him say a cuss word! Penn says. But Carr, who grew up hanging around David in locker rooms for more than a decade (when he was 6, he says, he used to eat lunch with his brother in the high school cafeteria), has always slid into new groups with ease. When he became the Raiders starter, he began attending the offensive line meetings and tagging along for their steakhouse dinners, gawking as his massive teammates overloaded the table with food. He can recite information about their hobbies and their families, and hes shared his strong Christian faith with them. He often tells them he loves them.While Carr has bonded with the entire group, hes grown closest with Hudson, the center who sets protections during games. Carr says he always pulls up a chair next to Hudson during team meetings and that the two of them will often stay up late on Saturday nights, bouncing ideas off each other in the team hotel. We just go to another level in our discussions -- stuff we dont want everyone to hear because their brains might explode, he says with a laugh.Hudson, a soft-spoken Alabama native, says hell be out at dinner, look at his phone and see that DC has been texting him videos of plays. Were in constant communication, he says.The Raiders offensive line is unique in several ways, aside from being the most expensive. Its starting unit is composed entirely of black players; Penn says theyve hung posters of the NCAA-championship-winning 1966 Texas Western basketball team and the Tuskegee Airmen, other groups that shared similar distinctions, in their practice room. Its also the heaviest line in football, with the average lineman weighing in at 324.2 pounds. That runs counter to the trend of teams employing lighter, more athletic linemen who can move side to side while blocking.Raiders O-line coach Mike Tice says he wants blockers who are brainy and athletic, but he doesnt deny that hes assembled a group of road-grading sledgehammers. The lines muscle was on full display in the Denver game, when the Raiders averaged 5.1 yards per rush. At one point, the team ran the same play 10 times in a row, simply overpowering the Broncos defensive line with brute force.In addition to tallying knockdowns (Jackson, the right guard, is known for racking up pancake blocks), Tice also tracks takedowns, which occur when a lineman uses his hands to bring down a rusher. People say you cant be physical pass-protecting -- they think you can only be physical in the run game. I disagree, he says. Even if were passing, I still want to knock guys down and keep the quarterback clean. Carr is known for his lightning-quick release, but Tice wants his line to buy him enough time so that he can set his feet before taking deep shots, especially against defenses that play tight coverage. We pride ourselves on that, he says.When a quarterback can step into his throws and hes got an arm like Derek? He chuckles. People are in trouble.When Carr tells stories about his linemen mauling defensive players, he omits the opponents names to be respectful. The 25-year-old is incredibly polite and relentlessly positive. It sometimes seems he was manufactured in a lab for franchise quarterbacks, designed to appeal to GMs and grandmothers alike. So its a little jarring when he gets fired up in response to a question about his brothers career in Houston. I feel so bad for him because their team sucked, he says. (If that seems milquetoast, consider that sucked might be the closest thing to profanity in Carrs vocabulary.) Thats a team you dream of playing. The Raiders, if we wouldve played that team -- it wouldve been ridiculous. We wouldve looked forward to that.In high school, Carr was asked to write a paper making an argument on any topic. He elected to write about why the Texans shouldnt trade his brother. What quarterback wouldnt have struggled, young Derek wrote, with such a feeble supporting cast? He says David wouldve absolutely thrived behind the Raiders line. If I was on that Houston Texans team, I dont know if my body wouldve held up, he says. These days, when Carr sees quarterbacks like Russell Wilson and Sam Bradford scrambling behind slipshod protection, he cringes. Honestly, I feel for them, he says. Im so thankful for what I have -- what we have.Its impossible to overstate the impact that offensive line play has on the development of a young quarterback. Just look at Dallas, where rookie Dak Prescott is thriving. While Prescott is undeniably talented, he has also been blessed with the opportunity to throw passes behind a battalion of human tanks. Meanwhile, fellow rookie Carson Wentz struggled in Philadelphia after Lane Johnson, the Eagles stud right tackle, was suspended and replaced with an inexperienced blocker.David Carr, who now works for the NFL Network, says that, after being repeatedly sacked and hit, he grew wary of his protection and gradually developed a skittishness that took permanent hold in his psyche. He compares being an NFL rookie to childhood -- a little boy or girl who grows up without encountering danger is more likely to become fearless. Its like that with quarterbacks, he says. If youre never in a situation where its a complete disaster, you can develop at a normal rate.He sees that growth in Derek. In college, the younger Carr completed 72 percent of his passes in a clean pocket but just 29 percent when under duress, according to ESPN Stats & Information. During his first two years in the NFL, he posted QBR ratings of 9.7 when pressured and 7.8 under duress. This year his QBR when pressured has risen to 41.4, which was eighth best in the NFL heading into Week 11.Because Carr mostly avoids contact, hes learned not to fear it, even during the rare plays when his linemen get pushed around. Theyve brainwashed me, he says with a laugh. As hes grown more composed and intrepid, hes become comfortable making adjustments on the fly. Take, for example, that throw to Cooper, the 43-yard completion in the Saints game in Week 1. Amari wasnt even supposed to get the ball, he says. But because they protected me for so long, I saw that no one was going anywhere. So I looked off the safety for, like, three seconds, and he had to take the bait. That ball never shouldve been completed against that coverage.Going forward, Carr says, he plans to continue taking more risks on the field, trying his hand at creative looks and passes. Its helped me take my game to another level, he says. In Oakland, he has the freedom to experiment -- and the time, and the space. Cheap Custom Rockies Jersey . Argentina winger Ezequiel Lavezzi and France midfielder Blaise Matuidi scored, with star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic setting up both despite having a poor game by his high standards. 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Rockies Jerseys China . 10 Texas A&Ms offence dominated as usual against SMU. Since the NHL officially starting publishing shot attempts (Corsi) on their site a couple seasons ago, there are a wide range of applications being done for fantasy hockey purposes. While it is not an available stat category for use in ESPN fantasy leagues, the stats are there for us to use in researching players that can help in the traditional fantasy categories.Since most leagues count minimal defensive statistics -- plus/minus arguably as the only relatively common category that touches on defense -- shot attempts as a whole (SAT for minus SAT against) dont paint a great fantasy picture. Since the penalty for a SAT against is minimal in fantasy hockey, it helps us a little more to throw them aside and concentrate on SAT for. After all, SAT for are what help drive all the fantasy statistics that do help us, including goals, assists, shots on goal and positive plus/minus.Remember that all the following numbers are for five-on-five ice time only, as that is what counts for SAT.We thought wed have an early look at the leaders in shot attempts for per minute of even-strength ice time. Basically a calculation of SAT (Corsi) for, on a per-minute basis. Within that table, we are looking at players who are playing a below-average number of even-strength minutes per game, because we want to identify guys who can earn more ice time as the season progresses.Efficiently driving offenseHere are five players at the top of the chart for SAT for per minute that we think could start capitalizing more on their offensive chances:Pavel Buchnevich, LW/RW, New York Rangers: Out with back spasms at the moment, Buchnevich ranks seventh in the NHL with 1.43 SAT for per minute during his two games played on the Rangers second line. It will be worth keeping a close eye on Buchnevich when he returns to the lineup. Regardless of sample size, the Rangers put a lot of pucks on the net when Buchnevich was on the ice.Zack Smith, C/LW, Ottawa Senators: Playing a relatively low 8:33 per game at five-on-five, Smith has room to grow if the Sens start letting the second line loose a little more frequently. Currently 10th in the NHL with 1.36 SAT for per minute, Smith is skating with Bobby Ryan and Derick Brassard. Only Erik Karlsson is scoring with regularity for the Senators at the moment, so some lineup shuffles are inevitable if something doesnt change. Smith might have the inside track on a better assignment when that occurs.Nick Ritchie, LW, Anaheim Ducks: It might be tough for the Ducks to demote Ritchie on the depth chart when Rickard Rakell returns. Ritchie is 13th in the NHL at 1.34 SAT for per minute, showing that hes making the most of playing on the Ducks top line with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. His two points might not be enough to fend of Rakell though, as the latter is due back in action as early as next week. If nothing else, this should be confirmation that you want to own whomever is skating in this spot. That isnt as clear as it should be, as Rakell is only owned in 36 percent of ESPN leagues.Jakob Chychrun, D, Arizona Coyotes: Possibly only around for five more games -- his entry-level deal will kick in if he skates more than nine games this season -- Chychrun has been showing well in limited minutes for a defensemen. Hes tied for 35th in the NHL with 1.17 SAT for per minute, hanging around the same ballpark as players like Drew Doughty and Adam Larsson, and actually better on a per-minute basis than fellow rookie Zach Werenski. The moment the Coyotes decide to keep Chychrun around for the whole season, its probably worth stashing him in deeper leagues.Sam Bennett, C, Calgary Flames: Playing fewer than 11 minutes per game at the moment, Bennett is driving more offense than the other Flames forwards irrespective of ice time. Hes been on the ice for 72 SAT for compared to Johnny Gaudreaus 70 SAT for, despite Gaudreau playing a full four minutes more of even-strength hockey per game. Bennett is tied for 53rd in the NHL with 1.11 SAT for per minute, and is arguably due some additional ice time in the near future.Inefficiently driving offenseHere are five players at the bottom of the chart for SAT for per minute that arent doing as much with their ice time:Alexander Steen, LW, St. Louis Blues: Despite playing more than 15 minutes at even strength per game, Steen has only been on the ice for 55 SAT for at five-on-five. His 0.60 SAT for per minute is near the bottom of the league and hes easily the lowest ranked among what we consider the top 100 fantasy skaters. Its likely coach Ken Hitchcock is continuing his trend of using a scoring line in what might be considered a traditional checking line matchup, as he used to do with David Backes line. Either way, Steen will be saved from any significant downgrade thanks to his time on the Blues deadly power play.Brayden Schenn, C, Philadelphia Flyers: This may be a product of playing tough possession teams in his only two games of the season, but Schenn has not had a great start for his fantasy owners. After serving a three-game suspension, Schenn has posted only 0.60 SAT for per minute through his first two games. This should improve as Schenn shares the ice with Claude Giroux and Wayne Simmonds on a dominant first line, but itll be worth checking in on him if the numbers dont improve soon.Kyle Connor, LW, Winnipeg Jets: On the receiving end of a very generous 12 minutes of even-strength ice time per game, Connor is very clearly in a defensive role for the Jets. His SAT for per minute is a lowly 0.63 and, just for the record, his SAT on the season is minus-24. Connor has some offensive upside, but with Nikolaj Ehlers and Patrik Laine boasting more offensive upside, it looks like Connor will be limited in any scoring role for now.Tyler Johnson, C, Tampa Bay Lightning: Playing a defenseman-like 16:53 at even strength per game this season, Johnsons SAT for per minute is just 0.66. The low number is partly a byproduct of playing so many minutes, but its still concerning that Johnson and Nikita Kucherov arent driving the offensive chancees like they have in the past.dddddddddddd In fact, the team split them up on Saturday, putting Johnson on a like with Jonathan Drouin and Ondrej Palat.Marian Hossa, RW, Chicago Blackhawks: There were already other concerns with Hossas deployment, so it should be no surprise that he ranks poorly in SAT for per minute at just 0.67. Hossa is currently playing on the third line for the Blackhawks, well out of range of the teams offensive catalysts on the top two lines. He looks good on the surface -- with four points in five games -- but that kind of production wont continue in his current role.Forwards rising and fallingPatric Hornqvist, RW, Pittsburgh Penguins (down 10 spots to No. 81): As long as Sidney Crosby remains sidelined, Hornqvist is going to free fall in the rankings. Hes managed a respectable five points in six games, but the Penguins shifted him to the third line this week. He needs that Crosby boost to stay in the top 100 going forward, and we still have no clear indication when Crosby might return. Youll notice Sid slipping a bit each week in the rankings, too, as we try to balance his absence with the lack of news surrounding his recovery from a concussion. We dont want to drop him too far unless we find out hell miss significant time. Six games doesnt qualify as significant.Jonathan Marchessault, C, Florida Panthers (up 36 spots to No. 199): Seizing the opportunity afforded to him with the absence of Jonathan Huberdeau and Nick Bjugstad, Marchessault has done enough to basically lock down the top-line role until Huberdeau returns in 2017. With seven points in five games, Marchessault should be universally owned while hes playing with Aleksander Barkov. That is not the case right now, as hes available in 65 percent of ESPN leagues.Thomas Vanek, LW, Detroit Red Wings (enters at No. 222): A special teams specialist to be sure, as Vanek is playing fewer than 10 minutes per game at five-on-five, but well take the seven points in six games regardless of situation. Four of Vaneks points have come on the man advantage. He wouldnt be the first player to ride a power-play role to fantasy glory, so dont sleep on him too long if you can find a way to scoop him up. We wouldnt drop a clear point-producer for a specialist, but if you have a sleeper thats not panning out, make the switch.Defensemen rising and fallingMike Green, D, Detroit Red Wings (up 26 spots to No. 168): Unlike Vanek, Green doesnt need the power play to produce his numbers this season. With only two of his seven points on the man advantage, Green is using his passing to make hay. In fact, he only has seven shots on goal but owns a hat trick this season, so dont buy to much into his inflated shooting percentage numbers. However, the four assists as a great indicator of good things to come for the strongest fantasy asset on the Red Wings blue line.Goaltenders rising and fallingTuukka Rask, G, Boston Bruins (up 16 spots to No. 73): Rask is currently dealing with an undisclosed general soreness issue, but we arent too worried about the injury side of things for him. So setting that aside, Rask has had a terrific start to the campaign with three wins and a vintage .947 save percentage. Coming off the worst ratios of his NHL career in 2015-16, Rasks early start is encouraging for those who rolled the dice on him this season.Quick hitsThings have been changing game by game for the Blues, but a hat trick out of David Perron on Saturday probably bought him more time on a stacked top line with Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko.The Penguins stacked the top line on Saturday -- and promptly lost to the Predators 5-1. While it might have been nice to have Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel sharing the ice together, there will probably be another shakeup here soon.After three points in his first four games, including an absolute beauty against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Zac Dalpe was rewarded with a promotion to the third line by Minnesota Wild coach Bruce Boudreau. The result has been a pair of goose eggs skating with different linemates in two games. Not only Dalpe, but Nino Niederreiter, Mikael Granlund, Teemu Pulkkinen and Chris Stewart need to be on the radar for when Boudreau finally finds his favorite scoring lines, as they are all linemate-dependent for fantasy value.With no Patrick Sharp, no Patrick Eaves and no Jiri Hudler, it was Ales Hemsky skating on the top line with Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn on Saturday. No one has locked down this top-line assignment yet.The best performance by any Nashville Predators goaltender so far this season belongs to prospect Juuse Saros, who was called up to fill in for Pekka Rinne on Saturday. Given Rinnes struggles in recent seasons and the high expectations on the Predators, its not a bad idea to file Saros name away for later this season. If Rinne played like he did last season, well hear about Saros again sooner than later.We are going one more name deep on the Los Angeles Kings goaltending depth chart. Jonathan Quick is out for around three months, Jeff Zatkoff is now also on injured reserve, while Peter Budaj has won his first two starts for the Kings. However, they havent been pretty wins, with Budajs save percentage sitting at .889. Jack Campbell is next in line. Hes a former high-end prospect that never panned out for the Dallas Stars, but is still just 24 years old. As evidenced by the slew of injuries to the Kings goalies, anything can happen, so keep his name stashed away.Top 250 rankingsHere are the updated rest-of-season, top 250 rankings of forwards, defensemen and goalies, including position ranks.Note: Sean Allens top 250 players are ranked for their expected performance in ESPN standard leagues from this point on. ESPN standard stats include goals, assists, power-play points, shots on goal, plus/minus, penalty minutes and average time on ice for skaters, and wins, goals-against average and save percentage for goalies. ' ' '