The Las Vegas Raiders have a quarterback competition going on this year between veteran Gardner Minshew and second-year man Aidan O’Connell who ended last season as the starter. Minshew is obviously the more experienced, but O’Connell showed excellent growth last season and seems promising.
One person who witnessed that growth first-hand last year was veteran quarterback Brian Hoyer, who began last season as the Raiders’ backup to Jimmy Garoppolo. Hoyer saw O’Connell’s development and work ethic, and he believes in him a great deal with all the weapons the Raiders have around him.
Hoyer recently spoke on this in an appearance on Sirius XM NFL Radio with Amber Theoharis, calling O’Connell’s growth last season tremendous while adding how the team really gravitated towards the young quarterback last year:
“[Aidan O’Connell’s] growth and what he was able to do as a fourth-round pick was tremendous.”
Guest host Brian Hoyer discussed @Raiders QB Aidan O’Connell and the Las Vegas offense.
📻 https://t.co/kDbLh5bBT0#RaiderNation | @BHoyer7 | @AmberTheoharis pic.twitter.com/rYZceswGAd
— SiriusXM NFL Radio (@SiriusXMNFL) July 2, 2024
O’Connell’s numbers from last season won’t jump off the page, but for a rookie fourth-round pick, they were more than adequate. He went 5-5 as a starter and completed 62.1% of his passes for 2,218 yards and 12 touchdowns with seven interceptions. Most importantly, O’Connell showed he could handle the pressures and rigors of being a starting quarterback, and, as Hoyer noted, the team gravitated towards him, which is extremely important.
Now, with a complete offseason to continue training and improving, there is reason to believe that O’Connell will be a much better player in his second season. With the weapons the Raiders have at the skill positions and an offensive line that should be improved, O’Connell has everything in place to succeed.
Of course, that will only happen if he can beat out Minshew in this quarterback competition, which is no guarantee. But the second-year man has some believers in his corner; he just has to prove them right.
NFL insider believes Raiders should give ‘blank check’ to Dak Prescott
Even though there is some promise within the Raiders’ quarterback room, the question remains as to whether Aidan O’Connell or Gardner Minshew is the franchise’s long-term answer at the position. This season will give some clarity, and if that isn’t the case there is a big-name who should be on the market next year in Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.
And one NFL insider believes the Raiders and owner Mark Davis should go all-out to get him to join the franchise. Former NFL GM Mike Tannenbaum said Davis should be ready to fly out and offer Prescott a ‘blank check’ the moment free agency begins, should the QB hit free agency next offseason.
