Raiders’ quarterback race underway, with another candidate likely coming
Aidan O’connell, Gardner Minshew on hand for start of voluntary team workouts
Gardner Minshew went from an NFL hopeful quarterback not
certanin all that be drafted as a senior at Washington State to an unlikely starter five years ago in his rookie season with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The path of the Raiders’ free agent acquisition quarterback shares a lot of similarities with new teammate Aidan O’connell, who started 11 games as a fourthround pick out of Purdue last season.
“I’ve been a big fan of (Minshew’s) actually for a long time because of his story and how he got to where he was,” O’connell said earlier this week. “Obviously, he’s just a guy that loves football and loves being around the guys.”
Both former collegiate walkons, O’connell and Minshew consider themselves the ultimate grinders. They’ve had to seize every opportunity to climb to the current points of their careers.
That’s why it should have come as no surprise that they were both among the reportedly large contingent of Raiders who showed up Monday for the first day of voluntary workouts at the team’s Henderson facility.
Teams aren’t permitted to do any on-field work until May but the current period allows for “meetings, strength and conditioning, and physical rehab,” according to NFL bylaws.
It should come as no surprise that neither Minshew nor O’connell would pass up any chance to make even a minute impression on their teammates and coaching staff. The identity of the Raiders’ starting quarterback next season might be more up in the air than it is for any other team in the league, and they’re the two leading candidates for now.
“It’s going to be competitive,” Minshew said after signing a two-year, $25 million contract last month. “I think they’re going to try to put together the best quarterback room they can. There’s no promises being made; I don’t want any guarantees. I just want a chance, and I’m excited for the chance I have here.”
The only other quarterback currently on the roster is former Oregon and Boston College signal caller Anthony Brown, who was out of the NFL a year ago after a season with the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2022. But another entrant is almost sure to arrive through next week’s NFL Draft, which begins April 25 in Detroit.
And he could be more heralded than Minshew and O’connell.
That’s certainly the case if the
Raiders make a move to select the player widely connected most strongly to them — reigning Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels. The LSU product and his family remain close with Raiders coach Antonio Pierce, who five years ago recruited the quarterback to his initial college stop at Arizona State.
“I thought he’d be a Heisman winner, I did,” Pierce said of Daniels at the NFL owners meetings last month. “That was my recruiting pitch to him.”
Pierce can’t help but light up whenever he talks about Daniels, but reality may be setting in that getting the 23-year-old in silver and black is a long shot, considering the Raiders hold the No. 13 overall draft pick. Daniels has been increasingly linked with the Washington Commanders and the No. 2 overall pick, moving to as high as a -300 (i.e. risking $300 to win $100) in the betting market to go in that slot.
Recent reports also indicate the New England Patriots may be leaning to stay put at the No. 3 pick and take a quarterback of their own, most likely North Carolina product Drake Maye.
The Raiders, and other teams who may have taken a particular liking to Maye or Daniels, had a glimmer of hope earlier in the process when the Patriots were rumored to be looking to trade out of the slot. But the cost was going to be prohibitive, with three first-round picks widely considered the incomplete starting point for conversations.
Trading up still can’t be ruled out but the Raiders may have competition with other quarterback-needy teams like the Minnesota Vikings and divisional rival Denver Broncos. It’s more likely they’ll have to settle for a second-tier quarterback prospect beyond the draft’s “big four” — with likely No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams and Michigan’s J.J. Mccarthy the other two next to Maye and Daniels.
Both Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. and Oregon’s Bo Nix made visits to the Raiders’ headquarters this month.
“I think everything’s on the table,” Pierce said. “Whatever makes the Raiders better, I’m all for. And when I say I’m a go-getter, meaning whatever it takes to win, whatever it takes to get the best player to make our team the best, that’s what I want to do. … (General manager) Tom Telesco has a lot more experience in the draft than myself. I’m going to lean on him and his expertise on what we should do. And if it’s the right fit and that guy there that we want is a Raider and he fits the Raider culture in our way, then we’ll go get him.”
Pierce described a similar impetus as to why Minshew wound up a Raider. As a member of the Indianapolis Colts last year, Minshew had one of his best games of the season in Week 17 to eliminate the Raiders from playoff contention.
He threw for 9.7 yards per attempt against a defense Pierce had revitalized. The performance stuck with Pierce.
“He finds a way, right?” Pierce said of Minshew. “That’s going to make our room better. He’s been through a lot of adversity. You want that experience in there. So, to me, it’s a good fit, a culture fit. Wild boy, right there. I like that personality.”
Minshew’s mobility and vocality fit a pair of the traits Pierce and new offensive coordinator Luke Getsy say they value in a quarterback. He also outplayed O’connell by almost any metric last year, but that may not mean all that much going into next season.
The 25-year-old O’connell was just a rookie, after all, and he could make a bigger leap with his first full offseason. The statistical gap between O’connell and the 27-year-old Minshew also slightly diminished late in the season as the Raiders won three of their final four games, with the loss to the Colts the only exception.
“I think I got a little too narrow-minded last year and just closed off and put too much pressure on myself at times rather than taking a step back and being grateful for the opportunity that I got,” O’connell said. “I wasn’t really supposed to be here by any means, to be in this position. To get the opportunity to compete and play is a privilege.”
O’connell said it’s been fun getting to know Minshew. The pair will also be welcoming of whoever joins their quest to become the Raiders’ quarterback ahead of training camp starting in July.
The rest of the Raiders’ roster has a lot of stars slotted into their respective positions. Quarterback is going to be much more of a battle no matter how highly the Raiders draft another passer.
Pierce went out of his way to say that no quarterback will be handed the opening-week job, citing his former teammate Eli Manning as an example of a top overall pick succeeding after waiting on the bench for a while.
O’connell and Minshew wouldn’t expect it any other way.
“The coaches and administration want to bring in the best players possible to try to make the team better,” O’connell said. “And the best guys are going to play. … It’s nothing new in terms of the competition.”