Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew are battling to be the Raiders starting quarterback in week 1, but neither player has seized the job going into the first week of preseason.
Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter said both players were “disappointing” in last week’s scrimmage, but Vinny Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal believes Minshew might have a slight edge on O’Connell going into the first preseason game…
“Despite Raiders coach Antonio Pierce imploring either Aidan O’Connell or Gardner Minshew to take charge of the quarterback competition, neither has decidedly moved ahead of the other in the fight for the starting job.
Minshew, though, appeared to nudge slightly into the lead with a progressively improved week of practice.
The sixth-year veteran has more mobility than O’Connell and looks more comfortable throwing off rollouts or scrambles. But it was his work in the pocket this week, when he stayed put and went through his progressions, that stood out.”
The Raiders still have a little more than a month before the regular season opener and it’s possible they could use the majority of that time to decide on a quarterback.
To this point, O’Connell has been the popular pick to win the job, but it sounds like Minshew has been slightly better in the last week. Both quarterbacks might have been messy in Saturday’s scrimmage, but the return of Davante Adams (from the birth of his child) should give the offense a boost.
The other hope is that the Raiders’ defense is playing a part in the struggles of the quarterbacks.
Remember, the last time Patrick Mahomes faced the Raider defense, his MVP stat line was 27-44, 235, 1-1.
x: @raidersbeat