The Las Vegas Raiders are in a tenuous position at quarterback. At this point, that’s become the norm for the franchise. The Raiders have had five different starting quarterbacks since benching longtime starter Derek Carr late in the 2022 season, and they could field a sixth against the Atlanta Falcons next Monday.
Quarterback Aidan O’Connell suffered a bone bruise in his left knee in the Raiders’ loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. His left leg was placed in an air cast before he was carted off the field, but the injury appeared worse than it ended up being. The second-year pro is going to attempt to play this week. Quarterback Gardner Minshew II (broken collarbone) is out for the year, so if O’Connell can’t play, the Raiders will turn to third-year man Desmond Ridder.
It’s good news for O’Connell that he avoided a more serious injury, but that doesn’t change the fact that the Raiders remain in a state of transition at the sport’s most important position.
Minshew is under contract for 2025, but he didn’t play well in 10 games this year. The Raiders would likely cut him rather than pay out the $11.84 million salary he’s due next season.
Ridder was mediocre in 17 starts with the Falcons in 2022 and 2023 and hasn’t looked great this season either. The 25-year-old is fired up for the opportunity to potentially play, but there’s little chance he proves to be a viable option as a starter for the Raiders.
Desmond Ridder and Brock Bowers connect for a late TD
📺: #LVvsCIN on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/kaNRUKFu87— NFL (@NFL) November 3, 2024
That leaves O’Connell as the only quarterback with a decent argument to be in the mix next year, and that’s largely only because he hasn’t played much this season, appearing in just six games and logging four starts.
O’Connell received a lot of praise for his rookie season last year. He started the Raiders’ final nine games of the season after replacing a benched Jimmy Garoppolo and helped the Raiders post a 5-4 record, but he didn’t actually play very well. He completed 62.1 percent of his passes (27th in the league), averaged 6.5 yards per attempt (25th) and finished tied for 20th in touchdown-to-interception ratio.
That’s why it was a foregone conclusion that the Raiders would still explore their options at quarterback last offseason. The result was signing Minshew, who beat out O’Connell in a training camp battle for the starting job. Minshew had a brutal start to the season, however, and was benched for O’Connell in Week 5. Coach Antonio Pierce named O’Connell the starter the following week.
That opportunity proved to be short-lived. O’Connell was solid in his first start against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 6, but he suffered a broken thumb on his throwing hand against the Los Angeles Rams the following week. He was placed on injured reserve and sidelined for five weeks.
After Minshew suffered a season-ending broken collarbone against the Denver Broncos in Week 12, O’Connell made a triumphant return against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 13. He passed for a career-high 340 yards and nearly led the Raiders to an improbable upset victory — before a disastrous botched snap cost them the game.
O’Connell wasn’t playing nearly as well before he got hurt against the Bucs. He’d completed just 11 of 19 passes for 104 yards, no touchdowns and a terrible interception. This season, O’Connell has completed 63.2 percent of his passes (31st among quarterbacks with at least 100 pass attempts), averaged 6.6 yards per attempt (29th) and tied for 31st in touchdown-to-interception ratio. He just hasn’t displayed much, if any, growth from his rookie year. At age 26, it’s fair to wonder whether O’Connell simply is who he is as a player.
Free, daily NFL updates direct to your inbox.
Free, daily NFL updates direct to your inbox.
Sign Up
Looking ahead to 2025, the Raiders will find themselves searching for an answer at quarterback for the third offseason in a row.
“It’s almost expected at this point,” O’Connell said last Wednesday. “I don’t think it’s going to be anything different for the rest of my career. I hope I can be established and know I’m going to play, but I think it’s part of the NFL. They’re going to bring in new guys every year to try to compete and try to get the best product on the field. And so, for as long as I get to play this game, I’m going to be ready to compete.”
The Raiders could once again explore the available veterans. The most attractive options set to become free agents are Sam Darnold, Russell Wilson, Justin Fields and Jameis Winston. If the New York Jets release Aaron Rodgers, he, too, could choose to keep playing. The Raiders could also attempt to trade for a quarterback.
The most sensible path forward, however, runs through the draft. The Raiders (2-11) are currently in line for the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft over the Giants (2-11) and should be in position to draft a quarterback even if they don’t wind up atop the first round. It’s imperative that general manager Tom Telesco lands the right one if the Raiders are going to avoid a similar fate next season.
The Raiders don’t necessarily have to take a quarterback in the first round — several capable starters across the league were selected later in the draft — but it’s hard to imagine them not addressing the position on Day 1 or 2.
There’s rarely a consensus on how draft prospects are ranked, but this year’s quarterback class is particularly polarizing. Teams are all over the place when it comes to the most notable quarterback prospects, though the top names are Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, Miami’s Cam Ward, Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, Texas’ Quinn Ewers, LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier, Penn State’s Drew Allar and Georgia’s Carson Beck.
Milroe, Ewers, Nussmeier and Allar could also return to school for another year.
If the Raiders aren’t sold on a quarterback prospect, they’d likely be better off taking Colorado cornerback/receiver Travis Hunter or whoever else they consider to be the best player available. That was the thought process behind drafting tight end Brock Bowers last spring even though he didn’t play an obvious position of need, and that has certainly worked out. Perhaps Hunter or another prospect could become that player in 2025.
Still, that would likely result in the Raiders heading into yet another season without a clear answer at quarterback. They’d be a better team if they beef up the rest of the roster in the offseason, but they simply can’t compete with the Kansas City Chiefs or the other AFC playoff contenders until they stop their revolving door at quarterback. As Pierce said recently, “Quarterback play, bottom line,” is the biggest difference.
The Raiders have other situations to navigate — namely whether Pierce will be back for Year 2 as head coach — that’ll also affect their approach this offseason. It’s possible that owner Mark Davis and his advisors, including minority owner Tom Brady, may have decisions to make regarding the team’s three most important positions: GM, head coach and quarterback. Every offseason is important, but this may be the most pivotal one the Raiders have had in years.
(Photo of Desmond Ridder: Julio Aguilar / Getty Images)
