It has been widely speculated that former North Dakota State quarterback Cam Miller was one of a small handful of quarterbacks Tom Brady was intrigued by going in the 2025 draft, and on Thursday against the Seattle Seahawks, Miller didn’t play like a 6th-round rookie playing in his first NFL game.
Miller nearly led a come-from-behind win in Seattle and finished the night completing 6 of 7 throws for 76 yards and a touchdown.
The rookie quarterback was one of the few bright spots for the Raiders on Thursday night, but his performance could put the Raiders in a difficult position when they trim the roster for the final time on August 27.
In many cases, a slightly undersized sixth-round quarterback might be stashed on the practice squad in his first NFL season, but a comment last week from Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter became even more relevant after Thursday’s game.
According to Carpenter, one of the reasons Miller might be hard to keep (if the Raiders expose him to the practice squad) is that there were so many teams interested in him going into the draft, and some are of the belief that Miller was Tom Brady’s guy going into the draft.
“Most guys jumping from FCS at quarterback would get the opportunity to go on a practice squad, but there were so many people that liked him, including Raiders owner Tom Brady, that I think it may be hard if he shines in these preseason games to hide him on the practice squad,” Carpenter said on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast.
Making matters even more interesting for the Raiders was a pedestrian performance on Thursday night from third-year quarterback Aidan O’Connell.
O’Connell finished the game 18-30 passing, for 205 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
Two weeks ago, O’Connell created some buzz when he showed up to training camp in much better shape than he was a year ago. More than a few beat writers and media personalities commented on O’Connell’s transformation at the time.
“One big takeaway I have today, with my own eyes, the only thing I saw today that I couldn’t wait to tell you was Aidan O’Connell… he looked unbelievable,” JT the Brick said after day one of training camp on his Raider Nation Radio show.
“Aidan walked by me [and] clearly changed his body, his workout, the ball looked unbelievable. I talked to [offensive coordinator] Greg Olson [and] he’s like ‘Yeah, something’s up with Aidan O’Connell.’ He looked fabulous today. I didn’t get a chance to talk to him, but that was the buzz today by a lot of people I was watching with… I was impressed.”
One preseason game isn’t enough to draw conclusions, but based on Thursday’s performance from Miller, it’s hard to imagine the Raiders are going to be able to sneak Miller on the practice squad and keep him.
A promising third-string quarterback is a good problem to have, and after O’Connell’s rough preseason opener, a potentially difficult roster decision on Miller at the end of the month probably got a little easier.
x: @raidersbeat
Hondo thinks we have 70 all pro players.
Get what you can for Adien & build up
Draft capital. This team won’t stop anybody
One good pre-season game, against 3rd string players doesn’t guarantee a roster spot. And if so many teams liked the player, why did he last until the 6th rd. This is a developmental player, he isn’t going to be the backup QB.
Raiders have a lot of problems after watching last night.
Kolton Miller at LT and Meredith at C ARE PURE GARBAGE.
The D Line, outside of Booker, WAS GARBAGE.
Charles Grant is not ready to play OT yet.
Laki Tasi looked insane pancaking people.
The O line WAS GARBAGE.
We got a lot of work to do and many things to clean up.
Not a good outlook along the OL, and if the OL struggles the entire offense will be mediocre. Hopefully not a repeat of last season. I didn’t like them giving top 12 OT money for Miller, but looks like they had no other options. They need someone that can recognize and acquire talent along the OL, badly.
One other thing that really bothered me…
What is Daniel Carlson doing high fiving and smacking helmets after a miss?
This idiot cost us the game and he’s laughing and smiling like he just accomplished something.
Bro, you just missed two field goal attempts in a game where they would have won the game.
You are PURE GARBAGE DANIEL CARLSON.
Why can’t we have lineman that can run block?
Cause the coaches we get keep trying to force zone concepts on lineman who are suited for a man blocking scheme
Put jpj back at center and Meredith back where he was!
I realize it’s preseason and only 1 game, however with that being said Cam Miller has earned the right to have the majority of snaps in preseason going forward. Aiden O’Connell has hit his sealing and we already know what were getting with him. As far as Cam Miller, we need to find out if he is there qb of the future.
Seems like a lot of garbage in Philly, no pun intended.
The only garbage is you.
Philly is the Supet Bowl champs.
As they say it’s. “MILLER TIME”
Hey Philly boy, it’s Super not Supet fyi try spellcheck. It may help your 6th grade vocabulary Mensa boy! Wow 😳