The Raiders are officially in an unenviable position at quarterback going into the offseason.
They most likely won’t be able to get one of the consensus top quarterbacks in this year’s draft, and the list of free agent quarterbacks entering the market isn’t expected to be spectacular… or even very good for that matter.
The best quarterback option for the Raiders might be to trade for someone like J.J. McCarthy or another backup with potential, but it’s a long shot that McCarthy or any other backups will be available at a reasonable cost.
Last year’s approach of rolling the dice on Gardner Minshew ended up being a disappointment and the Raiders would love to not have to spend $25 million on a veteran quarterback to cover themselves in case they can’t get a quarterback in the draft.
With Aidan O’Connell playing as well as he has in recent weeks, the Raiders can at least consider the option of not blowing money on a quarterback in free agency and going all-in on the draft.
Taking that logic a step further, the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Vinny Bonsignore brought up the idea this week of potentially rolling into next season with O’Connell as the starter.
“I don’t know whether or not this was the best game in Aiden O’Connell’s career. It felt like it,” Bonsignore said on Raider Nation Radio’s Morning Tailgate on Monday. “He definitely played good football. The question with Aiden O’Connell is going to be, and always has been, can he do it consistently over a 17-game schedule?”
“Here’s the thing, we’ve never seen it,” Bonsignore continued. “We don’t know. How are we supposed to know? Did he get 17 games last year? No. He started, what 9 nine games? The last nine games of the year? So, I don’t know, last year, what he would have done with 17 games. How about this year? Well, he wasn’t the starting quarterback to start this season, and he got hurt as well after he did regain the starting quarterback job. So he’s not even close to playing a full schedule this year.”
“I don’t know, you know, what’s going to happen moving forward, but I will say this, it’s still kind of a question of what Aiden O’Connell is capable of doing if he plays a full season,” Bonsignore continued. “Is he going to be able to get them to 10 wins if he played a full season? Is he maxed out at an 8?”
“Those are still questions that are lingering because we just haven’t seen it yet. We haven’t seen a full body of work from Aiden O’Connell. And it will be interesting how this all works out and whether or not he’s going to get that opportunity next year or are they going to make a move in the draft or free agency or the trade market?”
The idea of O’Connell being the Raiders’ starting quarterback going into next year won’t get many fans excited, but if they draft a player like Jalen Milroe or another developmental quarterback later in the draft, O’Connell might be the perfect option to keep the seat warm until the young quarterback is ready.
Of course, there’s also the possibility that O’Connell continues to develop and becomes a starter-quality quarterback himself.
O’Connell beat the Chiefs in his rookie season (albeit with a lot of help) and threw for 340 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions against them this year. At the very least, O’Connell has shown he can compete against the stiffest competition on the schedule.
If nothing else… O’Connell should give the Raiders the flexibility to make a move for one quarterback in the offseason instead of hedging their bets on another middle-tier veteran and a rookie in the draft.
x: @raidersbeat
Trade two picks to the Bengals and get Jake Browning to compete with Aiden. Best of both worlds. Browning gets to come back west, with inevitable injuries you have two good QBs. It was so foolish to get Jimmy G, who couldn’t throw downfield. I always liked Minshew so I can’t understand how bad he was, but I couldn’t believe that they decided that he had won the competition when he kept throwing off-target and Aiden was doing so well. A lot of bad decisions have led to this. Let Aiden have a chance. We’re losing a lot of free agents. We need to get new players.
I’ve been a raiders fan since lamonica. This year has been brutal. We’ll be horrible until we get a competent qb. Pierce might have the players on his side but I think he’s in over his head. Too many old coaches on the side line that don’t seem to be helping him. Clean house
I think we should stay the course with O’Connell as our QB1. It takes time to develop a player. What we really need is to surround him with better players. We should definitely consider draftijng a runningback in either the 1st or 2nd round. If we can’t get Travis Hunter in the 1st then definitely go runningback. The best one available.
Really? OL OL OL DL DB DB. You want whoever is under center to stay alive and be able to get the ball downfield? C”mon man.
Agreed. I don’t care if we draft a 22 year old Peyton Manning clone. No one can succeed with the way the O line is playing. If Miller can get back to pre-injury form and JPJ can keep playing this well and developing, we have 2 offensive linemen that belong in the NFL. The rest are simply not good enough. Need the 3 best offensive linemen we can get via draft and free agency. JPJ can fill in at center or guard, depending what we find.
pick a RB in the draft with 1st round pick or you will have to find someone because otherwise it won’t make a difference who the QB is we still need a running game. Maybe someone like Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard later in draft after getting a Running Back
AOC starting again next season? Tom Brady pulling the strings from the shadows? Mark Davis insisting on keeping that haircut? Yup that should run off all the remaining Raiders fans .
So far, AOC looks like cart only tougher. Aiden doesn’t live on backfoot rainbows and that’s a good thing. He takes too many sacks ands to stop locking on so many first reads. But the OL is responsible for most of those weaknesses. He did make four really bad throws the last two games that he got away with. That is why he’s not blue chip caliber.
Look, Aiden O’Connell is not let me repeat is not a starting qb. I don’t believe the team can go thru another 5-12 or 6-11. He is not that good. He is ranked near the bottom of the dung jeep for qb rankings.
You must hate the premature thing you’ve got going?
Getsy was a complete nightmare. There was absolutely no evaluating any part of the offense under him. And you can’t get instant gratification when you replace him Einstein. AND a terribly inconsistent OL exposing our best Q protector in Miller showing he’s as bad as the rookie on the other side. Maybe worse. So the rhetoric you squeak has zero creds. You have zero creds.
I like OAC but if you don’t have a line you don’t have anything.
RB you never draft one in the 1st round.
Get rid of IDIOT coach…
Whomever is QB, we do not have a very high caliber O Line not Running Back, then of course Defense
Bingo!
Who is AOC Mr Cruz?
Really