JJ Nelson

NAPA — Having speed at receiver is pretty cool. Who knew?

For the first time in his career, Derek Carr has a lot of fast receivers to throw to.

Antonio Brown made a brief appearance at practice Tuesday, and beat defensive backs for a couple of scores before getting his right foot looked at by a trainer and calling it a day. Tyrell Williams, the deep threat signed away from the Chargers, has been piling up yards after catches across the middle throughout camp.

And the fastest of them all is J.J. Nelson, the former Cardinal, who has run a 4.28 40-yard dash and is already a Carr favorite.

The 5-foot-10, 160-pound Nelson had 81 catches in four seasons in Arizona, and says there is more to him than just his speed.

“I have been trying to tell people that since I was little,” Nelson said after practice Tuesday. “Coach (Jon Gruden) told me that he was proud of me because this playbook, you know, it can be a lot. You can be anywhere at any time at any moment, so I am out here running routes that I haven’t ran since high school. I feel like I am doing pretty good.”

Nelson is more of an outside receiver than a slot, which is not a big deal since Brown can move inside. And also because Nelson says he is a quick learner.

On Sunday, Nelson made a nice adjustment on a deep touchdown catch, blew by a couple of defensive backs for catches and then immediately got by two defenders after a quick pass at the line of scrimmage.

I gave him my gold star of the day, and Carr agreed, saying that Nelson can catch and is not just fast.

“(Brown, Williams and Nelson) will make some of the worst throws look really good,” Carr said. “If you underthrow the ball a little bit, AB and Tyrell, they’re good at adjusting and making it perfect because they understand where the defender is, the coverage, that kind of stuff. Absolutely it helps. In my mind, I can take more chances.”

Carr recently joked that people give him a hard time for checking it down so much last season, but tight end Jared Cook and running back Jalen Richard were the best targets he had left by Week 7.

And going back to his rookie year in 2014, Carr has always had more possession-type receivers, from James Jones to Michael Crabtree and Seth Roberts to Jordy Nelson last year. Amari Cooper is faster than you think, but would disappear for various reasons.

Last year, after Cooper was traded to the Cowboys and Martavis Bryant didn’t turn out to be worth the third-round pick the team gave up to acquire him, Carr didn’t have much at receiver. It got so bad that journeyman Brandon LaFell’s injury was a crippler.

Factor in a banged-up offensive line with two rookie tackles, and Carr was playing Hot Potato. His average throw traveled 6.8 yards downfield, the lowest mark of his career by a full yard, according to SportRadar.

But the Raiders traded for Brown and then signed Williams, Ryan Grant and Nelson, and drafted Hunter Renfrow. Undrafted rookie Keelan Doss is also fighting to make the roster, with second-year veteran Marcel Ateman fighting him off with a nice start to camp.

“AB just gave you a taste today, but you have seen what he can do,” Nelson said. “Just imagine him out there every play with us other guys and DC back there … We’re looking forward to lighting up the scoreboard.”

Nelson signed with the Raiders for one reason: Gruden. He has always been a big fan of the TV star, and when Gruden called to make his pitch, Nelson told him there was no need to sell him.

And then Nelson met Carr.

“I love Derek, man,” Nelson said. “Like … I really love Derek Carr. I have been in the NFL for five years, been playing since I was little and he is one of the best teammates I have ever had. Honestly. And I am not just saying that because he is my quarterback and I want passes. Great guy. I love Derek Carr.”

Nelson, along with Williams and a handful of other receivers, went to Carr’s brother’s house in Bakersfield for a two-day minicamp earlier this month.

“It was hot,” Nelson said. “It was hot. But it felt good to get out there with some of the guys and DC and have a chance to run around before we got out here and went to work.”

Carr put Williams and Nelson to work, and could tell that his new teammates “love football.”

“It was 180 degrees and they’re like, ‘Man, I just can’t wait to play football again.’ They don’t care that it’s hot,” Carr said. “They don’t care that they’re tired, that I just made them run 200 plays. They’re (like), ‘Man, I can’t wait to put the pads on.’

“You get those kind of people that just love it that much and aren’t worried about the other little stuff, it’s pretty cool.”

Oh, and they’re fast, too. Very cool.