Raiders HC Josh McDaniels sees great traits in rookie QB Aidan O'Connell
The Las Vegas Raiders head coach was gushing over his new quarterback.Last year was, well, terrible. The expectations were high, and this time last year, I don't know if anyone would have thought Derek Carr would be on the New Orleans Saints in a year. But, here we are – he didn't perform, to the […]
The Las Vegas Raiders head coach was gushing over his new quarterback.
Last year was, well, terrible. The expectations were high, and this time last year, I don't know if anyone would have thought Derek Carr would be on the New Orleans Saints in a year. But, here we are – he didn't perform, to the Raiders, and they found someone who they think will.
Now they have Jimmy Garoppolo, and that situation isn't any better – in fact, it's worse. But they did draft a rookie quarterback, and he seems to be impressing a lot of people, including head coach Josh McDaniels, who couldn't help himself when asked about the traits he sees in Aidan O'Connell.
"Like I said, it's spinning, and the quarterbacks are probably spinning as much as anybody," McDaniels told the media on Thursday. "That's definitely part of the allure with Aidan. He played a lot of football in a good conference in college football, had a winning record in the Big 10 every year that he played there at Purdue, which isn't easy to do. He's played against good competition, he's accurate with the ball, he loves the game of football.
"He works very hard at it, which to me if you don't have those two things at this position, it's going to be hard for you to ever continue to grow and develop at that place. So, he's getting a lot of reps. He'll make mistakes and learn from them every day and then hopefully not make them again. That's the process that we're going through with the quarterbacks right now. I really love his attitude, his demeanor, the way he approaches football, and how he attacks every day. He's got a plan, and that usually bodes well for you in terms of improving."
O'Connell keeps getting compared to Tom Brady, which, yes, is stupid. How can you put something like that in a kid's head? He is the greatest quarterback of all time. O'Connell is a kid drafted on Day Three, who shouldn't have those types of comparisons.
But at the same time, there is a reason they are there. He has the talent, skill, and work ethic to be good, and we hear that from McDaniels. If Garoppolo doesn't work out it seems the Raiders are a bit confident in their backup plan.
Featured Image Via Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
