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Quarterback Aidan O’Connell heads into Las Vegas Raiders training camp with an opportunity to compete for the starting job for the 2024 season. The team’s starter for most of last season, O’Connell didn’t do quite enough to guarantee his sport under center for the coming campaign. That’s why he’s in a fight with Gardner Minshew II for his job in camp. A fight that he needs to win for the good of the franchise. That’s why O’Connell is the Raiders player with the most pressure on him for the 2024 season.
Why Raiders QB Aidan O’Connell is under pressure for 2024 season
The Raiders have a ton of talent heading into the 2024 NFL season. They have one of the best wide receivers in the league in Davante Adams, two promising tight ends in Michael Mayer and Brock Bowers, an above-average offensive line, and a solid defense, led by superstar pass rusher Maxx Crosby.
This team is built to win now. All they need is a quarterback.
Rumors leading into the 2024 NFL Draft had the Raiders potentially taking a quarterback at No. 13 to at least compete with Aidan O’Connell — the 2023 fourth-round pick out of Purdue who started 10 games last season — for the starting QB job.
However, in a historic evening, all six first-round quarterback prospects were gone by the time Las Vegas was on the clock. So, without a top rookie QB to throw in the mix, it is now basically just Minshew and O’Connell for the spot.
There are two more QBs on the roster heading into camp. Those names are Anthony Brown Jr., a veteran who has two games played and one start back in 2022 with the Baltimore Ravens, and Carter Bradley, an undrafted rookie out of Southern Alabama (via Toledo). So, it really is a two-man race at this point.
The first reason O’Connell is under pressure this preseason is that he needs to win the job. No disrespect to Minshew, but we know what he is at this point. He is a professional quarterback with a 15-22 career record. He is unquestionably one of the best backup signal-callers in the league but an average (at best) starter.
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With Minshew at quarterback, the Raiders could be a decent team. They may even outperform expectations and get into the late-season playoff mix. That said, in a division with the back-to-back defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and the now-Jim-Harbaugh-led Los Angeles Chargers, the Raiders don’t really have a chance at winning the division.
And with the Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, Houston Texans, Baltimore Ravens, Jacksonville Jaguars, and others in the AFC, even making the Wild Card is a long shot.
Even with the abundance of talent on the roster, Las Vegas needs an above-average signal-caller, and Aidan O’Connell is the only QB on the Raiders roster who has a shot to be that right now.
Last season, O’Connell was 5-5 as a starter with a 61.2% completion rate, 2,218 passing yards, 12 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. Those aren’t bad numbers by any means, but he does need to improve in every area in order to become an unquestioned starter in the league.
All that said, being a playoff team is the secondary concern for the Raiders when the 2024 season kicks off. Right now, the franchise is teetering, especially when it comes to superstar wide receiver Davante Adams. The rumors are flying that the former Green Bay Packers pass-catcher may be interested in a reunion with Aaron Rodgers on the Jets.
If the Raiders offense struggles out of the gate, there is a good chance that Adams is gone by the trade deadline. That puts even more pressure on O’Connell. He is not only his team’s only chance to get to the playoffs but also the person ultimately responsible for keeping this talented team together. If he doesn’t step up, the 2024 Raiders as we know them could be stripped of parts.
Is that overly dramatic? Maybe. But it’s not too much to say that Aidan O’Connell is the lynchpin that will (or will not) hold the Raiders together this season, and that’s a lot of pressure on a young, not-highly-drafted signal-caller.
