Getty Antonio Pierce & Davante Adams of the Las Vegas Raiders.
At some point, the Las Vegas Raiders will need to find a quarterback of the future and this could be the year. The team was considering drafting a quarterback last year but decided against it after failing to trade for the No. 1 pick from the Chicago Bears.
The Raiders are now in a similar position heading into the 2024 NFL Draft and there’s one prospect who could be a fit for the team, according to star wide receiver Davante Adams.
“I think based off the situation last year,” Adams said during the January 18 episode of “Two G’s in a Pod, “I paid a little bit more attention to where Bryce [Young] and C.J. [Stroud] were playing. It was a little bit easier to pay attention to them. I’m not great with college football but I did pay a little attention to Jayden Daniels.”
“I know he’s good, tough, obviously he won a Heisman so he’s a great player. That’s somebody that I think could come in and be a decent player.”
Daniels had a breakout year at LSU that led to him winning the Heisman Trophy. He threw 40 touchdown passes and rushed for another 10. He’s dynamic with both his arm and his legs. He would bring the type of mobility the Raiders have been missing from the quarterback position for a decade.
Tae confirms he would be open to a Rookie QB & which QB he admires in this upcoming Rookie Class 👀🔮
#RaiderNation #BTB 🏴☠️
(Via @AmberTheoharis @89JonesNTAF )
Jayden Daniels Has Strong Ties to Antonio Pierce
The Jayden Daniels to the Raiders hype is only just beginning. The team announced that Antonio Pierce was being hired as the full-time head coach and he’s got a strong relationship with Daniels. He recruited the quarterback to play at Arizona State before he transferred to LSU.
Daniels gave Pierce a shoutout during his Heisman Trophy acceptance speech and was also at Allegiant Stadium in the Raiders’ locker room following the Week 18 win over the Denver Broncos. He was there to support Pierce but that was before he knew the coach would get the full-time job. Now that Pierce is confirmed to be with the Raiders, it has to be appealing to Daniels to go to Las Vegas.
It’s obviously not his decision and the Raiders will likely need to trade up if they want Daniels.
Davante Adams Thinks Aidan O’Connell Can Be Starter
Picking at No. 13 in the 2024 NFL Draft will make it difficult to add one of the top quarterbacks. If the team isn’t able to trade up, that could lead to them sticking with Aidan O’Connell.
The young quarterback showed flashes as a rookie but his lack of athleticism makes his upside limited. Despite that, Davante Adams is confident that O’Connell is good enough to be a starter.
“I think he will be a good quarterback and somebody that can be a starter in this league at some point and just comfortable learning a little bit more and also, like I said, changing the system,” Adams said. “This system is for a veteran quarterback that knows what he’s seeing, knows how to convert at a high level, and if you haven’t had that experience, you can’t have confidence that you’re going to do that yet, so it just takes time.
“But I see him getting there eventually, though, for sure.”
Based on these comments, Adams believes that O’Connell still needs work but the potential is there.