NFL insider reveals who is winning the starting quarterback battle so far for the Las Vegas Raiders
It's no secret that the Las Vegas Raiders have a roster situation going on. In fact, it's been the hot topic of the offseason if anyone is mentioning the Raiders. Who's going to be their starting quarterback? Will that quarterback be good enough? Those are just a few of the questions being asked surrounding the […]
It's no secret that the Las Vegas Raiders have a roster situation going on. In fact, it's been the hot topic of the offseason if anyone is mentioning the Raiders. Who's going to be their starting quarterback? Will that quarterback be good enough? Those are just a few of the questions being asked surrounding the polarizing topic this summer.
The short answers to those questions have yet to be seen or heard. But, we are getting closer to knowing the biggest one – who will start Week 1 against the Los Angeles Chargers. Last year it was Jimmy Garoppolo, as then head coach and now fired head coach, Josh McDaniels, thought it wasn't even close between Garoppolo and O'Connell. Antonio Pierce thought the same but in O'Connell's favor.
Now, the Raiders have signed Gardner Minshew and will let him and O'Connell battle for the starting spot. The two have started that battle in OTAs a bit and carried that over into mandatory minicamp. But, we won't know who the true starter is until Week 1.
We are hearing, though, who is winning the battle so far.
"I'm told he's acting like a starting quarterback, and Davante Adams loves him, which certainly helps with the brownie points," NFL insider Jeremy Fowler said on ESPN. "O'Connell and Minshew in the spring went tit for tat; they went after it. O'Connell probably has the slight edge right now based on coming into year two, being more vocal."
The Raiders know what Minshew is, even if he hasn't played for them before, or even if he hasn't played in Luke Getsy's offense. As for O'Connell, sure, they saw him last year, so you would think they know what he is, but they don't. They know what he is as a rookie in a chaotic situation.
O'Connell was thrown into the fire as a fourth-round pick. And, it was a bad offense with a different head coach than the one he worked with in training camp. So, why not see how he is after a year of all that, and all of the chaos settled down a bit? That's what the Raiders will likely want. It's clear O'Connell is leading the charge so far.
Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell not phased with potential position competition
The Raiders will likely take one in the draft.
