Raiders QB Aidan O'Connell continues to be the biggest storyline of Sunday

Justin Churchill — College Football & NFL Trending News Writer

Aug 14, 2023 5:43 PM EDT

There aren't many people on this earth who thought the Las Vegas Raiders would win as they did, mainly because there aren't many people who thought Aidan O'Connell would play the way he did.

Playing quarterback is the hardest position to play in any sport. You have to make split decisions of who to throw the ball to while 300-pound guys are rushing in your face to tackle you, and none of your receivers may not be open. We have just seen guys like Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, and Patrick Mahomes make it look so easy we forget how great it is.

Then add in doing all of that as a rookie in a new system you likely don't even know, with players you don't know. It's hard. Yet, somehow Aidan O'Connell, the Raiders' 2023 fourth-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, did it.

Raiders QB Aidan' O'Connell's stellar day

If you were to throw a rookie out there in his first-ever NFL action and just tell him to do the best he could, O'Connell did about the best any rookie could. He played one of the most perfect games a rookie who played for just a half could.

Yet, he was still humble.

"You just kind of hope to go out there and do your best and see what happens," O'Connell said after the game. "I'm not worried about the stats. There are more things than just the stats, especially responsibility in the run game and stuff like that, that I need to improve on. So I know I have a lot of work to go still."

Does he have things to work on? Yes. However, he was as accurate as you could get. O'Connell went 15-of-18 (83.3 percent) for 141 yards and a nine-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Keelan Cole. He ran the offense that is so complicated to perfection. The guy, who was said to be a statue in the pocket, even ran a few bootleg action plays to perfection.

"I thought (O'Connell) generally handled himself well for the first (playing) opportunity," Coach Josh McDaniels said. "He's going to learn a lot from some of the things we might have been able to do a little bit better that would've helped us maybe sustain a few drives. He soaks it all in and takes every opportunity to improve."

O'Connell looks to be more ahead than where we thought he was. Of course, let's not overreact because it was a preseason game, but this quarterback experiment with Jimmy Garoppolo may not go the full contract length. There is a chance he will end up being better than Jimmy G next season.

Of course, as soon as I say not to overreact, I start overreacting a bit. But I don't think what I said is too crazy. Now that we have seen it, it is possible it could happen. Jimmy Garoppolo could be in trouble.