Raiders were a mess at QB before Gardner Minshew's injury and need a fix this offseason

LAS VEGAS — Gardner Minshew II surveyed the field and didn’t see anywhere to go with the ball. The Las Vegas Raiders had a chance to tie or win the game against the Denver Broncos late in the fourth quarter, and they needed their quarterback to make a play.

With that in mind, Minshew scrambled out of the pocket hoping to give his receivers time to create separation. None of them did, and Broncos linebackers Jonathon Cooper and Cody Barton eventually caught up with Minshew. Barton drove the quarterback into the ground, directly on his left shoulder. Minshew rolled onto his back and stared up at the roof in obvious pain.

It took some time and help for Minshew to get to his feet, and he went straight into the locker room for further evaluation. X-rays revealed that he suffered a season-ending broken collarbone, league sources told The Athletic.

Two plays after Minshew went down, quarterback Desmond Ridder was strip-sacked, which served as the clincher in the Raiders’ 29-19 loss to the Broncos. The Raiders are 2-9, have lost seven games in a row and sit in a three-way tie with the Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Giants for the worst record in the NFL. It was already clear that this season was lost for the franchise, but they still have to figure out an answer at quarterback for their last six games.

STRIP-SACK, NIK BONITTO‼️

📺: CBS pic.twitter.com/yPJ7piM4zV

— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) November 25, 2024

Even if Minshew were healthy, his run as the starter was likely over. Before getting hurt, he had struggled mightily against the Broncos, completing just 59.5 percent of his 42 passes for 230 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He was inaccurate, struggled in the pocket, didn’t protect the football and couldn’t keep the offense on schedule. That was mostly the norm for him in his nine games of action this season, so the Raiders going in a different direction was likely. Now, it’s certain.

The Raiders are hopeful Aidan O’Connell will be available to take over as the starter against the Kansas City Chiefs on Black Friday. He has been on injured reserve since he suffered a broken thumb against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 7, but he’s eligible to return to practice this week.

“We’ll see what happens tomorrow, but, obviously, it looks like he’s getting better,” coach Antonio Pierce said Sunday of O’Connell. “He threw a little bit in practice this week. Obviously, we’ve got a short week. … We’ll have to make that decision very quickly.”

The Raiders are scheduled to practice Tuesday and Wednesday before flying to Kansas City on Thursday. Ironically, they initially benched Minshew and handed the keys to O’Connell against the Broncos in Week 5. After Minshew threw two brutal interceptions that swung the game in Denver’s favor, O’Connell replaced him and was named the starter the following week.

The plan was to roll with O’Connell moving forward, but that wasn’t an option once he got hurt. If he’s cleared to play on Friday, he’ll get another opportunity to show what he can do against the Chiefs. As a rookie last season, O’Connell went 1-1 against the eventual Super Bowl champs.

In the scenario that O’Connell can’t play this week, it still doesn’t make sense for the Raiders to add outside help at quarterback. Their season is essentially over, anyway, and there’s nobody available who’s going to change that.

Daniel Jones, who was released by the New York Giants last week, is the best free-agent option available. The second-best option is Ryan Tannehill, who hasn’t so much as attempted a practice pass since January. Neither would provide a significant upgrade over O’Connell, which would be the only reason to sign them. If O’Connell can’t suit up against the Chiefs, the Raiders should just start Ridder.

The loss to the Broncos was Ridder’s second time replacing Minshew this season. He completed 11 of 16 passes for 74 yards and a touchdown in a Week 9 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. On Sunday, he completed five of 10 passes for 64 yards. In both games, he lost a fumble. While that’s not a large enough sample size to fully evaluate Ridder, he’s been below average in his 17 career starts since getting drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in 2022. Still, it’d be wiser to turn to him for a game or two until O’Connell is ready than to spend resources on an outside option.

Whenever O’Connell can return, he’ll have a big opportunity in front of him. In his 10 starts last year, he was mediocre at best. Then, he lost a training camp battle with Minshew. Although the 26-year-old has thrown only 82 passes in parts of four games this season, he hasn’t looked much better, completing 63.4 percent of his passes for 455 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. He’ll need to be much better if he wants to show he should be seriously considered as a starting-caliber quarterback going forward.

As for Minshew, his future with the Raiders is up in the air. He signed a two-year, $25 million deal this past offseason, but only $3.16 million of his $11.84 million base salary in 2025 is guaranteed. The Raiders could cut or release Minshew while taking a minimal cap hit. Given how poorly he played this season, it’s hard to imagine they’d bring him back.

General manager Tom Telesco signed Minshew to compete with O’Connell, who was the incumbent starter, in case the Raiders weren’t able to draft a quarterback. They weren’t — a league-record six quarterbacks were taken by the time they got on the clock with pick No. 13, including Broncos quarterback Bo Nix at pick No. 12. While the Raiders landed a star in tight end Brock Bowers, Sunday’s loss to Nix was a prime example of the difference between a team that has an answer at quarterback and one that doesn’t.

“Bo Nix is a pretty good football player,” Pierce said. “When they had to make a play, he made plays for ’em.”

🔴📽️ Live: Coach Antonio Pierce addresses the media from Allegiant Stadium. https://t.co/sRl61uUZfB

— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) November 25, 2024

It was understandable that Telesco didn’t find a franchise quarterback in his first offseason on the job, but it’ll be hard for him to justify allowing that to happen again next offseason. The easiest way to do so would be through the draft. The Raiders could have a high enough pick in the first round to draft a highly touted quarterback prospect. If a trade is required to land the one they want, so be it. And if Telesco isn’t sold enough on a quarterback to draft one in the first round, then he’ll need to find a better answer via free agency or trade.

From a regime standpoint, most of the focus this season has been on Pierce’s job security. But if Telesco can’t figure out a path forward at football’s most important position, his tenure with the Raiders won’t be a long one.