The Las Vegas Raiders have been enjoying a much-needed break from football the past month, but things will start ramping up shortly. They will be reporting to training camp in just a couple of weeks.
Las Vegas has a much better supporting cast and head coach this time around, and there’s some optimism that they could be a sleeper team in a crowded AFC. New head coach Antonio Pierce already seems to have the buy-in from the locker room, but he’s also got more talent to work with.
The biggest question looming over the Raiders is who Pierce will go with as his starting quarterback. Aidan O’Connell took over the starting job when Pierce was elevated to interim head coach, but the front office went out and signed Gardner Minshew to a two-year deal in free agency.
Minshew and O’Connell got off to strong starts during OTAs and running back Alexander Mattison noted how hard the two are competing against one another via Marcus Hayes of Las Vegas Today as transcribed by Aidan Champion of Sports Illustrated:
“It’s a battle, that’s for sure,” the veteran running back said. “Both of those guys [Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew II] are looking great. It’s a new offense for everybody, so everyone’s on that playing field of learning the offense, executing the offense, but those guys are both ballers, and both of those guys are play-makers.”
Both Pierce and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy have to like what they’ve seen out of O’Connell and Minshew thus far, and it sounds like players like Mattison have also taken notice of the competition for the starting gig. While both players might project better as long-term backups, O’Connell and Minshew have shown they can keep an offense on schedule thus far in their careers.
Minshew was originally considered to be the frontrunner for the job given his experience and contract, but O’Connell has made strides since debuting as a rookie and seems like a legitimate threat to win out. When training camp officially kicks off, all eyes will be on the two signal callers.
Brian Hoyer shares interesting take on Raiders’ Aidan O’Connell
O’Connell was up against it his rookie year as a fourth-round draft pick as he played behind Jimmy Garoppolo who was the team’s marquee signing. However, O’Connell handled himself well when taking over for Garoppolo mid-season which is why Brian Hoyer believes the young quarterback has done tremendously for himself.
