Raiders QB Aidan O'Connell's recent comments show his maturity

Justin Churchill — College Football & NFL Trending News Writer

Aug 20, 2023 7:54 PM EDT

The Las Vegas Raiders, and the rest of the world, maybe realize they have the steal of the draft when it comes to the quarterback position. No other rookie quarterbacks, including the ones drafted in the first round, are playing, as well as Aidan O'Connell in the preseason.

None of us expected O'Connell to be this good, too. He is engineering scoring drive after scoring drive while also making no mistakes. O'Connell is shocking the NFL world, and he did the same thing during their huge win over the Los Angeles Rams.

However, what he said after the game sticks out most to me.

"Definitely good to get the win," O'Connell said after the game in the locker room to reporters. "But again, I just, you know, your brain goes to the ones that you messed up. So I know I left a bunch of plays out there on the field that are a little frustrating. But you can just learn from the film and try to get better."

The fact that all he is doing is thinking about the plays he didn't get says a lot. Let's go back to preseason Week 1, where he went 15/18 passing. However, two of those incomplete passes were drops. So, technically there was one play that he left out there.

So, he was only thinking about the one play he left on the field last week. This week he left a few more, yes, but he was able to replicate his game and show more than he did the week before. O'Connell made some perfect passes that he fit threw tight windows and even made some very deep throws.

The Raiders have something here, and the way he acts after the games and his maturity only shows that he could be destined for greatness.