The Las Vegas Raiders have finally made their decision for who will start at the quarterback position between Gardner Minshew and Aidan O'Connell.
According to The Athletic's Tashan Reed, the Raiders are rolling with Minshew for Week 1 of the 2024 season, with O'Connell set to serve as his backup. Pierce added that O'Connell has tremendous upside and believes he will be a starter at some point in his career.
"Experience, the operation, processing... a lot of it showed up in games... based off where we want to go in the first 1/4 of the season we feel like Gardner gives us the best opportunity," Pierce said of Minshew.
"His personality is infectious, his energy is infectious, his leadership is infectious," Pierce added.
#Raiders HC Antonio Pierce on Aidan O'Connell:
— Jesse Merrick (@JesseNews3LV) August 18, 2024
Aidan is a young player that has a tremendous upside who will be a starter at some point in his career
The decision comes on the heels of the Raiders losing their preseason Week 2 contest against the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday night. Both quarterbacks struggled, but O'Connell was the only one to get the Raiders in the end zone. However, he threw a pick-six on the very next drive to sour his night.
The week prior, both quarterbacks played much better, but it was Minshew who led the offense on a pair of touchdown drives. The preseason was just a microcosm of how the entire offseason went, as neither signal-caller was able to really grab a stranglehold on the job.
While Minshew will get the keys to the car to start the season, he is anything but a sure thing to last the entire campaign in that role. O'Connell will be waiting in the wings if the veteran falters.
