Just when we thought we might have a handle on who was in the lead in the Las Vegas Raiders' quarterback competition between Gardner Minshew and Aidan O'Connell, the pendulum swung back the other way on Wednesday.
During the Raiders' first practice of mandatory minicamp on Tuesday, Minshew was the one to receive more first-team reps, which led many to believe he's the current favorite for the starting job.
But, as we noted in the wake of that news, the first-team rep distribution would only be significant if the Raiders continued down that path.
Well, according to Tashan Reed of The Athletic, Las Vegas did not and instead O'Connell got the advantage in first-team reps on Wednesday.
After Gardner Minshew took most of the snaps with the starters during team drills Tuesday, it was Aidan O’Connell’s turn to take the majority of the first-team reps Wednesday.
What didn't change was both quarterbacks struggling once again, as Reed also noted.
In what has been a trend throughout OTAs, though, neither O’Connell nor Minshew stood out on the field. They’ve struggled to push the ball downfield, have had too many off-target throws and don’t look to have their timing down. It’s still early, but both quarterbacks have a long way to go.
ESPN's Paul Gutierrez added that O'Connell threw a pair of picks during the session, while Minshew threw one of his own.
The fact that Minshew and O'Connell haven't been able to have much success this offseason is at least a bit concerning. However, it is important to note that both quarterbacks are in a new system and are facing a very talented defense, so struggles are to be expected.
Now, that doesn't completely wash away the concern over the performances of Las Vegas' quarterbacks, but it should help stop fans from pushing the panic button at this stage of the offseason.
Minshew and O'Connell will have one more practice at minicamp on Thursday and will then look forward to training camp in late July, when this competition will really heat up once the pads come on. We'll know a lot more then.
