Raiders' Davante Adams has noticed a huge difference in Aidan O'Connell that isn't being talked about enough
As we have reiterated a million times by now, the Las Vegas Raiders have a legit quarterback battle going on and are one of the only teams in the league that have that for the starting position, where a ton of teams may have a backup battle going on. The Raiders also have a battle […]
As we have reiterated a million times by now, the Las Vegas Raiders have a legit quarterback battle going on and are one of the only teams in the league that have that for the starting position, where a ton of teams may have a backup battle going on. The Raiders also have a battle going on for the third QB position as well, as the loser of that battle will likely be on the practice squad.
Now that OTAs and mandatory minicamp are over, there is a big gap between those and the next thing: training camp, which is basically when the season officially starts.
Through the first two parts of that, we have seen Aidan O'Connell, the state for most of last season, get the first-team reps. Gardner Minshew, the Raiders' offseason signing, has gotten some, too, but O'Connell seems to be the guy so far, as he is making some throws that even his teammates forgot he can make.
Now, that doesn't mean he has indefinitely won the battle. The war is not over yet. This battle will go on till the first week of the NFL. So far, though, it's easy to see that the second-year quarterback in Aidan O'Connell is definitely better than he was last year. In fact, he is growing in ways that don't really get talked about enough.
"I mean, it's more of just the comfortability in general within his own skin, I guess you could say," wide receiver Davante Adams said at minicamp. "He is who he is now. He's talking a little shit out there too, so it's a little bit of everything. You're starting to see more of him versus just the shell of a rookie trying to do everything by the book, which is what allows guys to kind of get to that next level once you figure out who you truly are and start to come into your own.
"Obviously, he's balling, and he was doing a lot of good things last year. So, I don't want to say that I haven't seen any elevation, but he was doing it, especially towards the end. He started figuring out who he is a little bit more and as soon as he got here this offseason, he kind of put his cleats on, strapped up and you can tell that he's ready to go."
When guys go from their rookie year to their sophomore year, being more comfortable is not talked about enough. Usually, we look for a quarterback to be better at throwing on the run or having better pocket awareness, which are all things O'Connell needs to be better at. But the one thing he wasn't the best at that we didn't talk about enough – he just was not comfortable being in the NFL yet.
He's not been, or has had to be a leader yet. He was a rookie in the league, on a team with a culture that is really much different than his personality, and that's fine.
That doesn't mean he can't be, because that's obviously what he has improved on. It's good that a guy as young as O'Connell, who is in the situation that he is in, is getting better at being himself in front of everyone.
And, as we have heard Maxx Crosby say, O'Connell is even talking trash back already. So, maybe being more comfortable takes his game to a whole other level. We will just have to wait and see.
Raiders’ Davante Adams has the best way to describe Aidan O’Connell’s game
The Raiders beat the Jets on Sunday Night Football.
