The Las Vegas Raiders finally made their decision at quarterback on Sunday, with the team deciding to start the season with Gardner Minshew over Aidan O'Connell.
Many thought that O'Connell would be the choice after both quarterbacks were neck-and-neck throughout the offseason, and especially after O'Connell had a better showing in preseason Week 3, the pick-six not withstanding.
The Athletic's Vic Tafur recently shed some light on why the Raiders went in the direction they did, and a lot of it had to do with Minshew simply being a better fit for the offense at this moment.
Pierce met with general manager Tom Telesco and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and they decided that Minshew was a better fit for the offense right now. And while many assumed (myself included) that Minshew would have to separate himself during the competition, it was the other way around.
O’Connell, the incumbent, was supposed to take that first snap of the offseason and pull away from the newcomer. But that never happened. It’s fair to say that O’Connell wasn’t as sharp as he was last camp and preseason as a rookie.
Many may point to O’Connell’s brutal pick-six interception against Dallas Cowboys backups in the preseason game Saturday night, but the Raiders charted passes throughout camp practices and Minshew threw more interceptions, so that wasn’t it.
As Tafur also points out in the article, head coach Antonio Pierce listed Minshew's experience and ability to process as reasons for the choice while also saying that the veteran "gives us the best opportunity to get off to a fast start."
“The operation, the process and just everything we saw in practice,” Pierce said of why Las Vegas chose Minshew. “Some of it showed up in the games. A lot of stuff we can get better at. I don't think anything here is a finished product but based off of where we want to go in the first quarter of the season, we feel like Gardner gives us the best opportunity.”
Minshew's mobility and history of success in the play-action passing game were both likely big factors, also.
As we've seen over his five seasons in the NFL, Minshew is capable of having big days, but he can also have disastrous ones. Knowing that, it wouldn't be at all shocking if O'Connell ends up getting his job back at some point in 2024.
