The hope amongst Las Vegas Raiders fans was that the team would draft its signal-caller of the future during the 2024 NFL Draft, but three days came and went and general manager Tom Telesco didn't come away with one.
While that was bad news for Raiders fans who wanted one, it was great news for the quarterbacks already on Las Vegas' roster in Gardner Minshew and Aidan O'Connell, both of whom have one less player to compete against for the job.
Adding to that, Las Vegas has made heavy investments in the supporting cast, signing players like Michael Gallup, Jalen Guyton, Cody Whitehair and Andrus Peat, and drafting Brock Bowers and Jackson Powers-Johnson.
In a recent article naming the biggest winners in the wake of the 2024 NFL Draft, ESPN's Bill Barnwell listed Minshew as one of them. He believes Minshew will defeat O'Connell in the starting job competition and benefit from Las Vegas' offseason additions.
All of this benefits Minshew, who is likely to win a competition with Aidan O'Connell for the starting job. Minshew would have been cast in the bridge quarterback role if the Raiders had selected a quarterback in the first round, but their failure to land a passer of the future and the depth added up front should be a boon to his chances of playing -- and playing well -- in 2024.
We certainly agree with Barnwell, as we put both of the Raiders' starting candidates on our list of Las Vegas' biggest winners and losers from the draft.
Without question, this will be arguably the best supporting cast Minshew has had in his five-year career.
On top of the aforementioned players, he has Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers to throw to, and a solid offensive line that sports two of the better players at their positions in the NFL, left tackle Kolton Miller and center Andre James.
The wild card in all of this is O'Connell, who is entering his second season after getting some experience under his belt in 2023 and finishing the season strong.
We know what the Raiders have in Minshew, but there's no telling how much better O'Connell will be, which makes the quarterback competition far from a foregone conclusion. Minshew is the favorite, but don't count O'Connell out.
