Veterans will report to Las Vegas Raiders training camp on Tuesday, and one of the biggest questions that the Silver and Black need to address before their September 8th season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers is who will be their starter at quarterback. Popular journeyman backup Gardner Minshew was brought in this offseason to challenge 2nd-year signal caller Aidan O'Connell for the starting job, and it will likely be performance in camp and throughout the preseason that settles who gets the nod Week 1.
Ask six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Davante Adams who he favors in this high stakes quarterback competition, and he'll tell you it's all about who is better suited to handling the pressure on game days.
“I want whoever is going to look the best when it's live bullets,” Adams said during a recent appearance on Shannon Sharpe's Club Shay Shay podcast (h/t Julia Stumbaugh of Bleacher Report). “So at the end of the day, I don't have a preference other than I want somebody that's confident and ready to go when it's time to do it. So, whoever that is, that's who I want throwing the ball.”
It's quite possible, if not probable, that when the live bullets are flying, it's seven-time Super Bowl winning quarterback Tom Brady who would have the quickest draw, so to speak. Back in April, Brady shared that he was not opposed to coming out of retirement in an emergency quarterback sort of role, specifically noting the Raiders and Patriots as potential options. Most assumed that this was simply a throwaway, tongue-in-cheek comment. After all, Brady is 46-years-old and has a cushy new gig with FOX Sports that will pay him a staggering $375 million over the next ten years. But apparently, Davante Adams didn't get that memo.
“Hell yes,” Adams said authoritatively before Shannon Sharpe could even finish asking if Adams would want Tom Brady to suit up for the Raiders. “Tom know how I feel about him, man.”
But again, Tom Brady will be 47 by the time the 2024 NFL season begins. Isn't that something the Adams should be concerned with?
“I mean, he's getting older. But he gotta still be able to throw it better than half these dudes in the league.”
Okay, fair point. But seriously, Davante, who really has the leg up right now?
Is the Raiders QB1 job Aidan O'Connell's to lose?
“I think right now, if I had to say, I think Aidan has the job because obviously he was here before, and that's the way that it was,” Adams told Sharpe. Was that so difficult? “He was running with the one's more. Until Gardner comes in and takes the job away from him, I think it's Aidan's job right now. He's doing what he's got to do to hold onto it.”
What Aidan O'Connell did to earn the job was to steady the ship for a Raiders team that was in the midst of a freefall when he took over. Las Vegas had fired their head coach, Josh McDaniels, in embarrassing fashion, and looked about as lifeless as a pro football team could. O'Connell was rarely flashy, but in ten starts, he finished with a 5-5 record and played reasonably well given the circumstances.
As for what O'Connell can do to strengthen his grip on that starting job, according to his #1 wide receiver, it's all about continuing to develop a rapport with both Adams and the rest of the Raiders offense.
“We've still gotta keep working and do what we've got to do to grow and get better. We can definitely get better than where we are — he and I, our connection, him individually, even me. At this point in the year, this is not where you are gonna show your best. So, throughout camp, when we really start throwing the pads on and doing the real deal, I think that's when we'll be able to decide who the guy will be, and I'll continue to keep working and getting that camaraderie with that person.”
Even if that person is Tom Brady.
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