Sin City Raiders

The Las Vegas Raiders will host the Dallas Cowboys tonight in their second preseason game and while many roster spots are being fought for, the most prominent of the competitions within the roster is the one to be the Silver and Black’s QB1. It is a situation that Antonio Pierce has said he wants to settle after tonight’s game. So, who will it be? Gardner Minshew or Aidan O’Connell?

First, how did we get here?

Raider Nation has been wondering who their 2024 starting quarterback would be for some time now. Maybe going back to Derek Carr’s benching late in 2022.

Jarrett Stidham had one nice game against the San Francisco 49ers, before leaving in free agency a couple months later. Jimmy Garoppolo was signed for three years and paid as handsomely as he looks to be a starting quarterback, but still, you had to know he wouldn’t be around forever. Understanding this, the old regime drafted AOC in the fourth round of the 2023 draft with the plan to groom him for the distant future. Turns out, the distant future was only a few weeks away as the rookie started for an injured Jimmy G in Week 4. Then in a shocking move, the old regime was dismissed and the interim regime appointed AOC the starter going forward. Unless O’Connell put on a rookie year like C.J. Stroud, you had to know that the Raiders would be QB shopping again in the 2024 offseason.

The shopping started early in free agency with the signing of Gardner Minshew to a two-year contract. But the scenario of the journeyman versus the second-year incumbent didn’t stop us from going through weeks and weeks of rumors and mocks suggesting the Raiders would make a massive draft-day trade to move up for a highly touted QB prospect and introducing them to the competition. The draft came and went and no trade was made. Also, a historic number of quarterbacks had gone off the board before the Raiders were on the clock. So rather than trade down or reach for the next-best QB, the Silver and Black got a quarterback’s best friend: Brock Bowers.

Then came OTAs and mini-camp.

It was hard to find positive news regarding anything on offense; let alone the quarterback competition. Reports from beat writer after beat writer described a defense that could be one of the best in the league that was absolutely stonewalling an offense trying to install a new playbook and blocking scheme. And when plays weren’t “ended” by a Maxx Crosby sack, accuracy from both quarterbacks was inconsistent.

Fast-forward to training camp and preseason when the pads came on.

The offense was supposedly showing improvement as training camp went on down in Costa Mesa. But after months and months of seeing short clips and reading what others had to say, the quarterback competition would finally step out into public last weekend when the Raiders opened their preseason. And after all the worrisome reports that had been coming out during the offseason, Raider Nation collectively breathed a sigh of relief.

The quarterbacks did not look bad. They were actually both good. Not great. But good. They were far better than the reports made them sound back in May and June.

With O’Connell, we saw his accuracy on display as he completed 7/9 of his passes as he led the team on an impressive drive that started with his back to his own goal line. With him under center, the Raiders failed to score a touchdown; a problem the other guy would not have.

Minshew only completed half of his passes (6/12) but for more yards, a touchdown, he was never sacked (unlike AOC) and he even scrambled for seven yards and a first down.

Glancing at the stat lines from that game, we see what both quarterbacks bring to the table. With AOC, we’re going to get a guy who takes what the defense gives him aside from a few shots he will take when given time to throw. What he has in accuracy, he lacks in mobility. When Minshew is under center, he’s going to be more aggressive. He will make more big plays but if you live by the big play, you can die by the big play. His frequent refusal to take what the defense gives him will make for more highlight-reel plays for both his offense and the opposing defense.

So now with the Raiders playing the Cowboys tonight, it is decision time for Antonio Pierce, Tom Telesco, Luke Getsy and maybe even Davante Adams will have a say in who the quarterback is. Will it be the high-floor of Aidan O’Connell who will take better care of the ball, or will it be the high-ceiling of Gardner “I also like to live dangerously” Minshew?