The Las Vegas Raiders have signed Arizona Cardinals QB Desmond Ridder from their practice squad following injury to Aidan O’Connell.
The dumpster fire that is the Las Vegas Raiders continues to rage as newly anointed starting QB Aidan O’Connell has been placed on IR after breaking his thumb against the LA Rams. Gardner Minshew replaced him in the game, and on the depth chart.
With UDFA rookie Carter Bradley as the only other QB option in Las Vegas, the Raiders signed veteran Desmond Ridder away from the Arizona Cardinals’ practice squad. Ridder was less than effective as a starter in Atlanta before being traded to Arizona for WR Rondale Moore.
Minshew is once again the Raiders’ starter after being demoted in the middle of Week 5’s game. O’Connell managed to play the second half of Week 5, all of the Week 6 loss to Pittsburgh, and then was knocked out of the Week 7 tilt against the Rams after breaking his thumb on a defenders helmet during a throw. Minshew is startable in only the deepest of leagues, and Ridder’s only upside is that he played with WR Tre Tucker in college at Cincinnati.
Brendon Booth | @bigbonededFFB
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Las Vegas Raiders QB Aidan O’Connell has been named the starter as the Raiders take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 6.
The Las Vegas Raiders’ Week 6 tilt against the Pittsburgh Steelers took a turn with the announcement that QB Gardner Minshew, and his 2-3 record, will be benched in favor of Aidan O’Connell. This is the second time in O’Connell’s two year career that he began the year as a backup and was pressed into starter duties.
The Raiders’ off-season was highlighted by a “competition” at QB between incumbent O’Connell and FA signing Minshew. Fans with memories of O’Connell’s rookie performances still on their minds expected him to win the job. Instead, the honor was passed to Minshew in a move that some people believe was Antonio Pierce capitulating to OC Luke Getsy and/or GM Tom Telesco. Pierce’s comments that Minshew was the starter “but both will see significant playing time this season” was interpreted to mean that he was in the O’Connell camp all along. Some fans also speculate that Davante Adams’ desire to be traded stems from his advocacy for O’Connell, as well. The chance that this decision means Adams won’t push a trade when he’s healthy remains a possibility.
O’Connell didn’t look great coming off the bench against Denver in Week 5, but that was a defense that has been tough in 2024. For Week 6, O’Connell may see an opportunity to provide fantasy relevance. His main targets will be fantasy TE1 Brock Bowers and Jakobi Meyers, who has 28 targets in the last 3 weeks. O’Connell will be asked to mitigate mistakes which is something he did in 2023, being the only QB in the NFL without a turnover in the season’s final 4 weeks. O’Connell had three top 13 finishes in those four weeks, including finishing as QB3 in Week 15 with a 4 TD game against the Chargers. He lacks rushing upside so he is safer in 6pt TD leagues.
Las Vegas Head Coach Antonio Pierce announced that Gardner Minshew will begin the 2024 Raiders season as the starting QB.
Entering the Las Vegas Raiders’ pre-season, head coach Antonio Pierce made it clear that the team’s starting quarterback for 2024 would be a decision made following evaluation of incumbent Aidan O’Connell and free agent signing Gardner Minshew. After the 2nd pre-season game, Pierce announced that the Game 1 starter would be Minshew.
Minshew has been a career backup and consistently ranks in the bottom 3rd of QB play, but he did manage a winning record with the Indianapolis Colts as a fill-in starter for the injured Anthony Richardson. O’Connell also was a game over .500 after being named the starter to finish the 2023 season in week 9, replacing Jimmy Garoppolo, and was the only QB in the NFL without a turnover in the final 4 weeks of the season.
Minshew has a very generous ranking by Player Profiler as QB21 and actually did have two top 10 finishes in 2023. His 8 finishes outside of the top 20, however, allude to a QB who shouldn’t be seen as more than an emergency starter in the deepest of leagues.
Aidan O’Connell seems to be the QB to beat in the Las Vegas Raiders’ QB “competition.”
There are only a handful of teams in the NFL that seem to have a position battle at QB. Las Vegas is one of them. Aidan O’Connell is the incumbent being challenged by FA signing career backup, and definition of “replacement player”, Gardner Minshew. While Minshew definitely has the moustache1 in the QB room, O’Connell is the front-runner at the position of QB.
Before off-season activities began, HC Antonio Pierce stated that AOC had earned the opportunity to take first team snaps, which he has. Reports from camp were that O’Connell has progressed, his arm is strong and accurate, and he’s been making throws that have surprised the defense. Minshew on the other hand, has less power and accuracy in his arm. Looking at their stats from 2023, AOC also has a slight edge there. With their completion percentages basically identical, AOC had a higher TD rate and a lower INT rate, by way of the macro stats.
O’Connell finishing as a top 20 QB and being rosterable as a QB3 in superflex leagues is within the range of outcomes for 2024.
Kliff Kingsbury will not be the Raiders’ new OC.
The Las Vegas Raiders and Kliff Kingsbury had agreed on a deal for Kingsbury to come on as the Offensive Coordinator under Head Coach Antonio Pierce. That deal had not been signed, and Kingsbury changed his mind.
The Raiders’ search to fill out the coaching staff continues, and keeps the future of upstart rookie QB Aidan O’Connell in limbo. O’Connell performed well after subbing for and eventually earning the starting QB spot over Jimmy Garoppolo. Options for the Raiders include continuing with AOC, trading for a QB like Justin Fields, or drafting someone to take over.
The Las Vegas Raiders have hired former LA Chargers GM Tom Telesco as their new General Manager.
The Las Vegas Raiders have announced the hiring of Tom Telesco for their vacant GM position. Telesco, the former Chargers GM, takes the reigns from interim GM Champ Kelly., who took over mid-season after the ouster of Dave Ziegler.
Telesco will be in charge of the team architecture and feelings about that seem mixed. While the Chargers were perennial media darlings based on the Telesco-headed roster construction, the results were not translated to the field. The Chargers have seemed to be the “on paper” champions while constantly underperforming. Some say the blame for that should lay, solely, at the feet of former HC Brandon Staley.
Though it remains to be seen what Telesco’s direction for the Raiders will ultimately be, Telesco’s history suggests he may want to acquire Oregon QB Bo Nix in the draft. The Raiders hold the 13th pick in the first round, and while Nix is not expected to be drafted that high, trading out and dropping to get Nix later, or drafting the 13th and using other capital to move up for Nix are also possibilities.
A move up for Jayden Daniels is also an option. The LSU QB played at Arizona State while new Raiders HC Antonio Pierce was an Associate Head Coach. Drafting Nix or Daniels wouldn’t bode well for the future of Aidan O’Connell as the Raiders’ starter at QB.
