If the Raiders are going to make it back to the postseason, they are going to need stable quarterback play. Their defense and talent around the quarterback is good enough to elevate an average quarterback, but finding competent QB play is easier said than done.
The Raiders are one of the few teams to have a true quarterback battle going into the 2024 season. Unfortunately, no player has jumped out to a big lead.
In a recent article by Tashan Reed of The Athletic, he wrote about the quarterback competition in Las Vegas so far this offseason. And as expected, things are going quite slow:
There isn’t much separating Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew in the race to become the starting quarterback. They split reps fairly evenly with the first-team offense throughout OTAs. While they’ve both taken quickly to offensive coordinator Luke Getsy’s system, neither stood out much during practices. The defense decidedly had the upper hand regardless of who was at quarterback.
Minshew and O’Connell are similar as quarterbacks who have average arm talent, athleticism and size. As a result, they both have to use their minds rather than their bodies to excel. That hasn’t materialized in practice. This will come down to who manages to create separation between training camp, joint practices and preseason games.
OTAs and minicamp practices don’t mean much, so it’s important not to overreact. This battle will be decided during training camp once the pads come on and things are moving at full speed. But the fact that neither quarterback has looked particularly sharp so far is a bit concerning.
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