The Las Vegas Raiders have made their starting quarterback decision official, with the team choosing Gardner Minshew over Aidan O'Connell following the second preseason game on Saturday night.
Head coach Antonio Pierce announced the news on Sunday. Quite frankly, neither quarterback would've been a surprise considering how close they were the entire offseason.
The final audition for both quarterbacks came in the aforementioned preseason Week 2 game. Both quarterbacks had their issues, with Minshew nearly throwing multiple picks and O'Connell actually throwing a pick-six on his final throw of the night. However, O'Connell was able to lead the Raiders on a touchdown drive.
It was the latest in what was a back-and-forth competition. Nevertheless, the Raiders settled on Minshew to take the keys to the car for Week 1.
"Myself, [Tom] Telesco and Luke Getsy discussed it this morning," Pierce said, according to Rachel Gossen of Raiders.com. "A lot of things went into it. It wasn't based off of last night. There's a lot of factors. We feel like Gardner gives us the best opportunity to get off to a fast start."
"His personality is infectious, his energy is infectious, his leadership is infectious," Pierce said of Minshew per Jesse Merrick of News 3 Las Vegas. "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."
The most frustrating thing about this competition is that neither quarterback really separated himself from the other, something Pierce made quite clear after the loss against Dallas.
That is more of an indictment on Minshew, who should have been able to clearly beat out a second-year quarterback. Instead, the competition was much closer than you would assume it would be given their differences in experience.
With all things being equal, or at least almost equal, the Raiders should have went with O'Connell to see what they have in him. He at least presents an opportunity for upside, seeing as how he has just one season and 11 games under his belt.
The book is already written on Minshew and you're going to get exactly what he's put on tape the last five seasons, which has led to him being an elite backup but a serviceable starter, at best. His style of play can be fun, but as we saw in the second preseason game, it can be dangerous, also.
Whatever the case may be, "Minshew Mania" is alive and well in Las Vegas and O'Connell will now wait in the wings for his opportunity, which could very well come at some point in 2024.
