The Las Vegas Raiders will start the 2024 season with a different head coach-quarterback tandem than they began last year with. Antonio Pierce will replace Josh McDaniels as head coach, and Aidan O'Connell or Gardner Minshew will replace Jimmy Garoppolo at quarterback.
This marks the fourth consecutive year that Vegas will trot out either a new head coach or quarterback in Week 1. Though Minshew and O'Connell are upgrades over Garoppolo, and Antonio Pierce is an upgrade over Josh McDaniels, where does the Raiders' head coach-quarterback tandem rank among the rest of the NFL?
Sports Illustrated's Matt Verderame believes that the Silver and Black's tandem of Gardner Minshew at quarterback and Antonio Pierce at head coach ranks 30th in the NFL. Verderame decided to pencil in Minshew as the starting quarterback over O'Connell, which could be debated.
Here is what he had to say about the tandem of Minshew and Pierce:
Pierce earned the gig in Las Vegas by giving a strong showing after Josh McDaniels was fired. The former NFL linebacker led the Raiders to a 5–4 record, and now gets his first full season. He’ll be attached to a newcomer in Minshew, who started 13 games for the Indianapolis Colts last season, throwing for 3,305 yards and 15 scores.
Though the Raiders' tandem of Minshew and Pierce lacks excitement, there's no doubt the pair isn't in the bottom three of quarterback-head coach tandems.
Minshew nearly led the Colts to a division title and playoff appearance last year and has shown he can hold his own as a starter. While a nine-game sample size is small, Antonio Pierce took over admirably after the firing of McDaniels last season. The former NFL linebacker went 5-4 in 2023 — including a signature win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 16 — and began establishing a gritty culture in Vegas.
We don't know who the starter will be for the Raiders, but it doesn't matter in this argument. Even if you put O'Connell in the starting spot, he nearly helped the Raiders make the playoffs during his rookie campaign.
Las Vegas' quarterback-head coach tandem shouldn't be in the bottom three, as there are many other teams with less experienced quarterbacks and lackluster head coaches. Top 25 would've been a better spot to place the Raiders' duo.
