As the Las Vegas Raiders begin training camp, the biggest question surrounding Antonio Pierce’s team is who will be the starting quarterback. The team will have a competition between second-year man Aidan O’Connell, who ended last season as the team’s starter, and veteran Gardner Minshew who was signed this offseason.
Both players bring some promising tools to the table. Minshew has more overall experience and is a great improviser and leader. O’Connell showed great promise last season and has the familiarity and support of some important teammates.
But coming into camp, Pierce made it clear that neither O’Connell nor Minshew is ahead in the QB competition, via Tashan Reed of The Athletic:
As the Las Vegas Raiders reported for training camp Tuesday, coach Antonio Pierce addressed the media for the first time since offseason team activities. The story of training camp, of course, is the quarterback battle between Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew. Pierce has been effusive in his support of O’Connell as the incumbent starter, but he made it clear that neither player has a leg up over the other at this point.
Pierce said he’ll make the decision about who the Week 1 starter will be in concert with general manager Tom Telesco and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy.
The decision on who will be under center will be absolutely crucial for the Raiders’ success this season. The team has great momentum coming off of how it ended last year after Pierce took over as head coach, but if it doesn’t have the right quarterback, everything else the team does won’t matter.
The Raiders have a ton of offensive talent to work with, led by Davante Adams, Jakobi Meyers, and a pair of promising tight ends in Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer. O’Connell is almost certain to be improved from a year ago, especially with the confidence he was able to build, but Minshew nearly took the Colts to the playoffs last year and may be better at this moment.
Whatever the choice ultimately is, Antonio Pierce and the rest of the Raiders brass have to get it right if they hope to make a playoff run in 2024.
Davante Adams reveals when Antonio Pierce earned Raiders’ respect
Antonio Pierce did an outstanding job last season of turning the Raiders around and he was rewarded by having the interim tag removed and being named permanent head coach. The players really rallied behind him once he took over and the respect they had for him was actually built before he was promoted.
Star receiver Davante Adams recently revealed that Pierce’s words to the team during a meeting when he was still the linebackers coach really resonated with the locker room. Adams noted that Pierce’s passion stood out and he was unafraid to talk directly to anybody in the room.
