The Raiders are hoping to make a decision on their starting quarterback in a week, and this week’s game against the Cowboys could go a long way to determining the starter.
Antonio Pierce said he will take a look at the full body of work from the offseason, training camp, and preseason into account, but it’s going to be hard for the coaching staff to choose against the better quarterback in Saturday’s game. Some reps just mean more.
As far as which quarterback is in the pole position right now, Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter said the competition is still close but hinted that Gardner Minshew might have a marginal lead going into practice this week.
The quarterback battle is very close,” Hondo said on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast. “I said going into the last game, I think it was dead even. I would say it’s still dead even or a slight edge to Gardner, simply because he had more time to do more [in the Minnesota game].”
Hondo also pointed out that Minshew’s ability to protect the football is going to be key in his chances of earning the job.
The good news for the Raiders is it appears that they have two quarterbacks capable of winning games in the regular season. Whether or not they have the quarterback of the future is still to be determined, but if Minshew and O’Connell play the way they did against the Vikings, the Raiders should be in the playoff conversation this year.
x: @raidersbeat