After not taking a quarterback in the 2024 NFL Draft, the Las Vegas Raiders are officially set to have Gardner Minshew and Aidan O'Connell battle it out for the starting job in training camp this year, much to the chagrin of those Raiders fans out there who wanted another, younger option with more upside thrown into the mix.
Minshew has the advantage in experience and is coming off a season in which he nearly led the Indianapolis Colts to the playoffs while replacing starter Anthony Richardson, whose season ended early.
O'Connell is the incumbent in the competition and had an impressive rookie campaign in 2023, especially considering the circumstances that saw him get thrown into a starting job following a head-coaching change.
It certainly wasn't perfect, but as head coach Antonio Pierce said recently, O'Connell, who threw for 853 yards and eight touchdowns to no picks over the last four games, earned the right to battle for a starting job in 2024.
But who has the edge in this competition? Well, according to Vic Tafur of The Athletic, it appears to be Minshew, who he says "in all likelihood" will be the starter come Week 1.
Minshew, in all likelihood, will be the Las Vegas Raiders’ starting quarterback when the season opens in September, as the Raiders were unable to trade up for one in the NFL Draft last weekend. They couldn’t get into the top three and, at that point, washed their hands of the whole mess. Minshew, who turns 28 next month, has started 37 games for three teams in his five-year career, and last season he was one dropped pass away from helping the Indianapolis Colts get into the playoffs.
While Minshew is the logical choice between the two, given his experience and the amount of money the Raiders spent on him (two years,$25 million), count out O'Connell at your own peril. After all, it stands to reason he'll be better than he was last season after getting 10 starts under his belt and looking like a competent quarterback in those appearances.
We already know what the Raiders are getting in Minshew, but nobody knows what O'Connell will look like in his second year. And, if that's an improvement from where he was in 2023, he's got a great chance.
If you haven't already done so, get on the O'Connell train before it leaves the station. It is far from a foregone conclusion that Minshew is going to walk out of training camp with the starting job, and my prediction is he won't.
