The Las Vegas Raiders hoped that Jimmy Garoppolo was their answer at the quarterback position but they couldn't have been more wrong. Garoppolo played in just seven games and struggled mightily before going with Aidan O'Connell down the stretch.
O'Connell was better than Garoppolo but didn't look like a future franchise quarterback by any stretch. With that in mind, the Raiders added a bit more competition for O'Connell this offseason, bringing in Gardner Minshew on a two-year deal. While Minshew is relatively unproven as a starter, he did take over for the injured Anthony Richardson last season and nearly led the Colts to the playoffs.
Minshew and O'Connell are both capable of starting games when needed, but neither guy looks like the long-term solution under center for Las Vegas. It would've been nice for the Raiders to select someone in the NFL Draft, but they weren't in a position to draft a franchise guy.
By the time their first-round pick at No. 13 overall was on the clock, six quarterbacks had been taken off the board. Rather than reach for the seventh-best guy at No. 13 overall, the Raiders selected Brock Bowers, the best tight end in the class, and wound up signing a young QB as a UDFA instead.
That signing could turn out to be more important than some might've thought.
Carter Bradley might've gone undrafted, but he has a very legitimate shot to make the Raiders roster and potentially steal playing time if things go downhill. All Bradley would seemingly have to do to make the roster is beat out Anthony Brown Jr., a quarterback who has started just one NFL game and completed 43 percent of his passes that day.
Bradley impressed at this year's Senior Bowl and had two solid seasons at South Alabama, combining for 5,995 yards and 47 touchdowns while completing 66% of his throws.
The 24-year-old won't have a chance to start Week 1 but if the duo of Minshew and O'Connell struggle, the Raiders might look to give him a chance even though he was undrafted.
