It is pretty clear that the success of the Las Vegas Raiders next season will come down to the quarterback position and what the franchise does to address it this offseason. New GM Tom Telesco and head coach Antonio Pierce will have to come together and figure out the best path for the franchise at the most important position on the field.
The team does have Aidan O’Connell, who started 10 games for the Raiders last season, and he showed some promise as a rookie. While his numbers weren’t amazing, he was solid and showed flashes of being a good starter in the league. But whether he will be the guy moving forward is unclear, and it sounds like Pierce and Telesco are split on that.
According to Tony Pauline of Sportskeeda, O’Connell seems to be the choice of Pierce, but Telesco would prefer a big name at quarterback:
“O’Connell seems to be the choice of Antonio Pierce, who had the “interim” tag removed from his title a few weeks ago and was named head coach after a successful tenure taking over for McDaniels
Yet sources tell me Tom Telesco, named as the team’s general manager on Jan. 23, wants a big name at the quarterback position.”
The Raiders are looking to win now, and if the right guy isn’t under center, that will be impossible. O’Connell could very well be that guy, and Pierce surely seems to believe that is the case. And that could be true especially if he works hard this offseason and continues to improve, but there are a lot of very intriguing options available.
In the eyes of Telesco, perhaps someone like Kirk Cousins, who has proven he can lead a team to the playoffs, might be the move, or a trade for someone like Justin Fields, who showed great improvement down the stretch of last year, could immediately boost the Raiders into playoff contenders. Then, of course, there’s the draft.
New quarterbacks coach Rich Scangarello has spent time helping presumed top pick Caleb Williams prepare for the draft so there is a connection there. The same can be said for Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels whom Pierce is very familiar with during their time together at Arizona State. The Raiders would have to make a deal to move up and get one of those players, but it could be worth it.
Whatever the right move is, it is important that Pierce and Telesco are on the same page about it as they look to move this Raiders franchise back amongst the NFL’s elite.
Raiders offensive coordinator Luke Getsy ‘excited’ to get to know Aidan O’Connell
Someone else who should have a big say on the quarterback position is new offensive coordinator Luke Getsy. Where he stands is unclear, but at the very least he is looking forward to working with and getting to know Aidan O’Connell.
“Without even knowing him or talking to him about anything yet, I could tell you right now that guy has got to be someone that prepares his butt off and like is a great teammate,” Getsy said.
“I mean, for the guys to rally around him the way that I saw from the outside looking in, and for him to go perform in the way that he did at the end of that season, that just speaks volumes. So, I’m excited to get to know him, excited to work with him for sure.”
