After benching Gardner Minshew in two of their past three games, the Raiders are now planning to make the veteran reclaim the job via a competition with backup Aidan O’Connell.
The QBs’ latest battle will take place in practice this week, The Athletic’s Vic Tafur notes. This marks another chapter in a long-running matchup to determine which quarterback is Las Vegas’ better stopgap option, as ties to 2025 draft prospects are undoubtedly coming soon. For now, the Raiders will need to again pick Minshew or O’Connell, the team’s options after six quarterbacks went off this year’s draft board before the team’s No. 13 overall pick.
Antonio Pierce put a temporary halt to speculation he would bench Minshew, but after Patrick Surtain‘s 100-yard pick-six keyed a Broncos blowout that featured a second Minshew interception, the Vegas HC has not provided the sixth-year veteran any assurances the job is still his for the team’s Week 6 matchup against the Steelers. O’Connell, the team’s starter for the second half of last season, may soon have his latest chance.
Although O’Connell also tossed an interception to Surtain in the Raiders’ 34-18 loss, one of Pierce’s first decisions as interim HC was to install him as QB1. The Raiders benched Jimmy Garoppolo shortly after firing Josh McDaniels and GM Dave Ziegler last year, and the fourth-round pick started every game during Pierce’s interim period. O’Connell also was believed to have a leg up on Minshew during the passers’ offseason competition, but Pierce cited the veteran as the better option to help the team start strong. Despite a road win over the Ravens, the Raiders have been unable to establish consistent offense with Minshew at the controls.
Minshew ranks 27th in QBR, representing a steep fall from his Colts finish (13th) last season. Minshew commanded a two-year, $25MM deal this offseason — a pact that led all non-Kirk Cousins FA passers in this class — but became insurance in the event the Raiders did not draft a passer this year. Minshew has 42 career starts on his resume but may well be headed back to the bench, as it would be interesting if Pierce benched the incumbent twice only to like his most recent practice work and keep the status quo in place. O’Connell has completed just 57% of his passes, at 5.5 yards per attempt, in relief duty this season.
Looking at your cards over and over again doesn’t change your hand.
Wise words. They should have made a move for somebody months ago as a failsafe.
ROTFLMAO! That was mean-spirited, but well done!
They should trade for Trey Lance. The Raiders have to understand it’s a sub .500 year. They might as well test-drive a former first-round pick just sitting on the bench anyway.
I’ve been saying for weeks raiders need to make phone calls to Trey Lance, Sam Howell, Ryan Tannehill, Mason Rudolph, Drew Lock and/or Jameis Winston
I agree; what do they have to lose other than a 6th round pick (thereabout)?
Yup!
I think they would rather lose with their current QBs than win with a guy who wouldn’t possibly be part of the future due to age (Tannehill) or limitations (Rudolph), but I agree that the other four make varying levels of sense. I think Winston will receive a bridge QB contract next, while Lock and Howell should get shots again at some point.
Howell played in a similar offense to Getty and despite his atrocious interceptions last year in Washington has a rocket arm and release
Lance is not an answer to any QB question. Except maybe suck for the 1st pick in the draft. He does not have the stature to be an NFL QB. He did good in college you say. He also played against a few NFL players a week. He now plays against 11NFL players each week. Of those handful most will be special team players at best. Him being the #1 pick was because of ignorance and wishing. Trade away your future on a questionable guy was plain stupid. Thinking about it this is a typical Raider move. Is Mark and others asking their soon to be part time owner his ideas? Seems like a prudent thing to do.
I would do that in a heartbeat. Just from a top=level look at his stats, Lance has done nothing wrong but get injured, and have Purdy in front of him. And this isn’t like Bryce Young. Lance starts with being big enough to play the position. For all practical purposes, he has had only 3 starts, and one of those was played in 6 inches of rain in Chicago.
If this was his first season, and he had 4 GS (one injured and one in the rain), there is (imo) a 0% chance he’d get benched based on his production.
I’d even go so far as to tap Minny on the shoulder and ask about McCarthy. There is every possibility that Darnold might be their l/t QB and that they’d like to re-coup some draft value for McCarthy.
Not a chance in the depths of Hades will Minnesota move McCarthy.
I have never seen a team go into a season with a worse QB plan than this year’s Raiders. No upside at all. No offense to both who are fine back-ups, but you can’t win in the NFL like that. Hope they find someone good in April
Competition to see who leads the tank mission.
How about Relaunching the Head Coaching Position for the Raiders?
If you glance at the NFLPA report card for the Raiders you can see that their HC isn’t the most popular choice. A change is probably imminent.
link to nflpa.com
They should have never hired him if they were going to fire him so soon..they are stuck with him for awhile
Could Adams be traded for a package that included a QB and a lower pick?
I think Minny has to choose between Darnold & McCarthy. It is a small sample size, but Darnold has been pretty good over the past three years. And he is young enough to get a 4-year deal. If that’s the case, there is no motivation for MN to hold onto McCarthy for four years.
Having a coach that’s putting a ‘hook’ on the QB position shouts nothing but panic and fear of his own job. Might want to ensure your O-line can provide pass protection and open running lanes. Check to see if your receivers are running routes properly. And for goodness sake try to find defenders, besides Crosby, that can tackle post first level. That’s basic football and the back end is absolutely pedestrian at that primary school skill, it’s not flag football (yet).
Pierce might be a good guy, a buddy kind of coach but I’m not impressed with the ‘teaching’ aspect of him or his staff, same failings week after week.
I respect Pierce’s active attempts to fix problems, but I there’s a certain point where you’re just undermining your starter by wavering in your commitment. How exactly a team does a QB competition in the middle of the season I don’t know. If O’Connell were better than Minshew or represented the future I could perhaps understand, but neither of those things are demonstrably true. At this point, Pierce is just undermining the offense as a whole.
I think the “commitment” is to replacing both QBs as soon as better options present themselves. By playing both these guys Pierce can protect his job by saying he gave both a fair chance to succeed. We know that all major decisions only occur if Davis gives the green light so any undermining taking place rests at his feet.
Just tank for a QB
Problem w/tanking is this upcoming QB draft class is weak.
It’s still early days with a lot of college football left to be played. Almost any day one draft prospect would be an upgrade over what the Raiders have now.