Gardner Minshew received the backing of Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce earlier in the season, but a quarterback change has indeed been made partway through the team’s Week 5 matchup. 
Minshew began the game completing 12 of 17 passes for 137 yards and one touchdown. He threw an interception when the Raiders were close to scoring a touchdown, however, with Broncos corner Patrick Surtain returning it 100 yards for a Denver score. Minshew then tossed another pick late in the third quarter, and Vegas’ next possession had Aidan O’Connell in at quarterback. He completed 10 of his 20 passing attempts for 94 yards and an interception of his own as the Raiders fell to the Broncos, 34-18.
Pierce declined to name a Week 6 start immediately after the loss, according to Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, but the mid-game switch indicates that a long-term change at quarterback is under consideration.
O’Connell had an encouraging finish to his rookie season in 2023, having been inserted into the lineup once Pierce was promoted to head coach on an interim basis. O’Connell received praise from the head coach during the offseason, but the Raiders gave Minshew a two-year, $25MM pact in free agency to serve as a bridge starter mentoring a rookie or a veteran capable of handling full-time starting duties. Neither passer ran away with the QB1 gig this summer, and it was Minshew who got the nod for the beginning of the campaign.
Through Vegas’ first four contests, the 28-year-old completed a career-high 70.7% of his passes. That resulted in an average of only 219 yards per game, though, and Minshew threw as many touchdowns (three) as interceptions. Struggling in the turnover department today – something which was a factor in him landing the starter’s role in the first place – has exacerbated the ongoing questions about Minshew’s status atop the depth chart. For a brief stretch, at least, O’Connell will get the opportunity to lead the Raiders’ offense.
Of course, that unit does not have All-Pro wideout Davante Adams in place for time being, and a trade sending him elsewhere could be finalized in the coming days. The likes of first-round rookie tight end Brock Bowers and veteran receiver Jakobi Meyers will handle the build of Vegas’ pass-catching work provided Adams does end up being dealt ahead of the trade deadline. With or without him, a strong showing by O’Connell, 26, could allow him to take over as the starter moving forward.
The Purdue product is attached to his rookie contract through the 2026 campaign, while Minshew’s deal includes $3.16MM guaranteed for next year. Both signal-callers should remain in the fold regardless of how the rest of this season plays out, but an extended O’Connell evaluation period could now be in store.
Whew!
They are all set now.
Too bad they can’t bench the owner. Mark sucks.
Yeah … hate owners who hire a staff and let them run the show. However, the business model has seemed to work for the Las Vegas Aces who have won back to back championships. Maybe Mark should take more of a roll like Jerra Jones does in Dallas, then I guess he wouldn’t suck?
From Google: Since he inherited the ownership reins in 2011 from his late father, Al, the Raiders are 82-120, with just two winning seasons.
Could you tell me he’s a great owner again?
arty! — Yes I can, with pleasure….
Since 2011 Mark Davis has…
1) Orchestrated an organizational move from Oakland to Las Vegas.
2) Built a world class stadium to play in and a state of the art facility to train in.
3) Been graded by the NFL player team report card for 2024 as one of the best organizations with all A and B grades.
4) Mark Davis initiated a plan to establish consistency by hiring a coach for ten years to run the on field part of the organization. The NFL didn’t like that, so the staff was eliminated.
5) Mr. Davis has enforced a player standard for off field behavior that rivals and exceeds the Rooney family and clearly does not have the organization confused with teams like KC and Cinny, who get criticized on this forum constantly. Mark Davis has also openly criticized other owners for their domestic violence policies.
6) Mark Davis cleared the organization of individuals that were on the take, taking bribes, and embezzling funds from the NFL.
7) According to Forbes the Raiders are currently the fifth most valuable francize in the NFL. Valued at $6.2 Billion, up 26 spots since 2011 when they ranked 31.
8) On a personal level Mark Davis has also publicly voiced his opposition to players kneeling for the National Anthem and still personally donates to schools of need in Oakland and Las Vegas.
According to your standards, Mark Davis sucks. What are your values for a “Great Owner”?
Who let Rich Bisaccia walk so they could hire awful Josh McDaniels? Who hired a clown like Mike Mayock to run the show? Who let them run Derek Carr out of town so they could sign Jimmy G (Carr and the Saints have the most points scored per game, btw)?
I think Mark Davis gets a bit of a bad rap, but let’s not act like he’s a great owner. He has meddled and made some horrible FO decisions.
Who has hired Rich Bisaccia on a promotion from Special Teams Coordinator?
It is also well known that Mark David runs the business end of the organization, and the people hired in place run the on field side. If you look at Mike Mayocks drafts, from round three on have been very successful. The others fall into that “Off Field” kind of category?
Josh and Ziegler ran the Carr vs Jimmy G issues. Gruden had Carr playing the best ball of his career, no surprise that Dennis Allen brought Gruden in to consult and (Carr and the Saints have the most points scored per game, btw)?
Who are your the top five owners and why?
“Who has hired Rich Bisaccia on a promotion from Special Teams Coordinator?”
I don’t understand this question. Rich Bisaccia brought the Raiders to a playoff game. Their only one in the last seven years and only their second in the last 21 seasons. He had a great rapport with the team. Davis let him walk so he could hire a clown like Josh McDaniels. Are you trying to tell me this was a good move by Davis?
Speaking of which, Mayock himself believes part of the reason he was fired was because he wanted to keep Bisaccia. So if Mayock was so great (which you seem to think he is), then A) why did Davis fire him? and B) was it in part over Bisaccia? Because both scream owner meddling.
I’m not answering your question about top five owners because it’s irrelevant and I don’t care. We’re talking about how good Davis is. I’m not even saying Davis is a bad owner and I agree with a bunch of the points you’ve made. But since 2011, the Raiders have only made the playoffs twice and have ZERO playoff wins. The only constant through that has been Davis. Players, coaches, Front office have all changed, some many times over. Raiders are still awful almost every year. Davis should shoulder most of the blame.
Mark was given that stadium. The city and the NFL paid most of the costs, not the Raiders.
From Google: the Las Vegas Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium was funded by a combination of contributions from the Raiders, the NFL, Clark County, and other sources:
If you think Mark is a competent owner, OK, that’s your choice. He’s a bust of an owner who got a free ride from his dad to the league.
Have you ever heard him called the ‘poorest billionaire’ for years & needed funding?
Who cares about his stance on kneeling?
What are your values for a “Great Owner”?
======================
I’m selfish in this way, but I’d like to enjoy watching the Raiders play football gain.
No one says: “my team’s owner is great! He improved team value!”…. or “he orchestrated to move my team to a different city!” … or “he has a high player standards!”
82-120. For over a decade his team has won 40% of its games. That’s pretty bad.
The “staff” has been a merry-go-round of players, coaches, management, etc.
Raiders are getting much better value out of their (former) QB1 than the Jags are. Similar stats, less the $40m+ per season difference.
link to stathead.com
I don’t think the QBs are the guys. Aidan has a better arm but Gardener can move better. Both are back ups though. Going to be a long year.
Trevor is also a BU. As is Dan Jones, Kyler Murray, and plenty of other +$45m QBs. Burrow is 1-4 this year as well.
Except all of those QBs sure as hell didn’t look like backups today. Funny that you’d call them out on a day when they all balled out.
One game is just that. Could you take a look at their career records, please?
Time to get Nathan Peterman back on the roster 🙂
You may be the first person to ever say those words together, even if it is in jest. Welcome to history, Lemon. Lol
You must be new here, Appalachian. If you were to search CrossedEyedLemon’s comment history, you’d see 75% of it is Nathan Peterman related lol
I’d take Kyler or Joe over Aidan and Gardner though right now. Kyler played pretty well today vs SF.
Antonio Pierce seems lost already and Clueless
He seems desperate in his role as HC. Might help if realizes he doesn’t have a SB caliber squad and this team is maybe 1-2 drafts away from being solid.
Tom drafts ok just not real good with 1st round choices though he might have learned a thing or two since leaving the disfunction of LA
The Raiders were clearly planning on mailing it in this year – as Minshew has never shown anything that would lead you to believe he could be their long term answer.
I disagree. It looks to me like they had no plan at all, i.e., a GM/coach/owner without a clue how to build a team. They’ve got a bunch of parts that you can’t build a winning team out of.
lol start making phone calls for Sam Howell or Taylor Heinecke
Sam Howell is next man up if Geno Smith is injured. Not available (not on practice squad, but active roster).
Now that Dak Prescott re-signed (the Raiders were interested), Sam Darnold will be the offseason target.
People didn’t believe me when I said Minshew was better utilized as a supersub. Results vs. Carolina and Denver prove it.
The good news for the Raiders is they face a Pittsburgh team traveling 3 time zones west after a storm-delayed SNF game that didn’t end until 1 AM in the East.
You can`t bench Uncle Rico!!!
I mean, what did they expect. You have a guy who is probably the top or top 3 at least in terms of backups as your starter on a team that already is not good.
We can’t play like that and still think we have any chance of success this year. Let the trading begin. And that means a lot of the players that won’t be part of the 2026 team. Adams & Meyers (& I like both of them) aren’t part f the future.
Could trade for Aaron Rodgers and keep Davante Adams. Rodgers would look better in a Raiders uniform with an eye patch, than in the skanky NYJ green.
In that case, Minshew could go back to being a supersub. Might learn enough from Aaron the Great to live up to his moustache and interview style.
This feels like a massive overreaction by Vegas. Minshew had a terrific beginning to the game against a deadly Denver defense. The Raiders collapsed after that, not Gardner Minshew specifically. O’Connell keeps getting chances by virtue of being a coaches’ favoritbut I don’t see a signature moment or some massive potential that he brings to make this change exciting. Minshew at least added value through a positive beginning this game, where O’Connell offered an entirely mediocre performance.
The receivers let Minshew down on a couple of pass plays, too, which certainly would have improved Minshew’s chances. Overall, Minshew’s played decently this year, despite not having a great roster necessarily. Adams being out this week definitely affected Minshew’s options in a tough game against a great defense-benching him is premature, especially for a player whose upside is all hypothetical and not proven. Any case that can be made for O’Connell is that he “could” be better than Minshew, but there’s nothing other than conjecture right now to suggest that.
Maybe O’Connell will offer a similar product in the end-that actually wouldn’t surprise me-but Minshew never felt like he had the coaches’ confidence, despite not playing badly this year. I don’t get the eagerness to make a change.