The Raiders surprised a few people on Tuesday when they signed Gardner Minshew to a two-year, $25 million contract.
Minshew is getting deal from the Raiders that pays much better than most backup quarterback contracts in the NFL, but the bigger takeaway from his signing might have more to do with the upcoming draft.
Maybe more than ever, the Raiders are expected to make an aggressive move for a quarterback in the draft, and at least one media personality that follows the Raiders believes the signing of Minshew offers a clue to what type of quarterback they are looking for in the draft.
Appearing this week on Raider Nation Radio’s Morning Tailgate, Yahoo and Fox Sports radio host Jason Fitz said he believes the Raiders might be leaning away from Michael Penix Jr. now that Minshew is with the team…
“There is one major takeaway to me if I’m looking at the way they are running this team. You’re not bringing Gardner Minshew in to be a mentor on a totally different style of quarterback. That’s the one thing I would say…
I’ve said repeatedly that I love Michael Penix Jr., [but he] is a much different quarterback than Gardner Minshew. So in my mind… what the Raiders are telling you is they want a mobile quarterback. They want someone who can run around a little bit. They are going to style an offense in a way that Garnder can make it work, and also a young quarterback that can make it work. That scream much more to some of the other quarterbacks in the draft than Michael Penix Jr… That’s my one takeaway that I don’t think anyone is talking about.”
Fitz was asked by co-host Vinny Bonsignore about the quarterbacks the Raiders would most likely consider to be a similar skill set to Minshew and he offered two names…
“I think if they can’t get up for Jayden [Daniels], because Gardner mentoring Jayden would be perfect. If they can’t get to him then stylistically [the signing of] Gardner says we’re going to be running an offense that probably fits the skillsets of J.J. [McCarthy] or Bo Nix.”
One other detail that wasn’t discussed in the segment was this…
If the Raiders are planning to implement an offensive scheme that utilizes the mobility of their quarterback, what does that mean for Aidan O’Connell?
twitter: @raidersbeat
Frankly, I’m always stunned when I read what professional journalists write who do nothing but follow the events of the teams for a living and then fail to understand how much Pierce esteems O’Connell… yet he says it clearly every time he talks about him… not only that, he is consistent with his words with facts! he recently said that O’connell will start with qb1 whoever arrives.. and with this logic it is right that he protects himself with a qb2 who has demonstrated that he can do well in case O’connell does not meet the expectations that Pierce has of him.. but despite this everyone is still writing who will select the Raiders from among the available qb… no one.. I’m telling you from Italy if you who are in the USA haven’t understood it.. not at least with the first rounds! Just listen and don’t have prejudices about O’connell and the fact that he was chosen in the fourth round.. because I don’t read all this distrust on Yong or Levis.. yet O’Connell played better than them last year.. . but it is taken for granted that they will also be starters next year only by virtue of the 2013 draft choice
Young and Levis were on much worse teams. Y’all are really overblowing AOC. He’s not that good. Our best win was against the Chiefs and he didn’t complete a pass after the first quarter in that game. Of course Pierce is talking highly of AOC. Minshew and AOC may be our only options going into next season. He has to try to show that we will be competitive with them even though we won’t.
Great analysis. Can we carry 3 QBs? Play AO with one of the more agile ones? Now that would make for an exciting offense!
Agreed. O’Connell will be fine as he will be asked to move around. The question us, which round do they draft Jordan Travis?