The Las Vegas Raiders quarterback battle hasn’t even begun to heat up yet, but there’s one player in the group who isn’t getting talked about enough. Everybody expects No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza and Kirk Cousins to duke it out.
However, Aidan O’Connell has been slept on in the process. If the Raiders thought he could be a long-term starter, they wouldn’t have drafted Mendoza and signed Cousins, but he’s been solid when asked to start in the pass.
The Raiders seem to favor the idea of starting a veteran at the beginning of the season and bringing him along slowly. With that in mind, ESPN’s Dan Graziano suggested that O’Connell could be in line to start before Mendoza if Cousins struggles.
“The Raiders do not have a strong roster,” Graziano wrote. “They have significant issues to address with their wide receiver corps, offensive line and several positions on defense. They don’t want to play Mendoza yet not because they don’t think he’s ready, but because they don’t think they’re ready for him. They want the group around Mendoza to put him in the best possible position to succeed, and they recognize they might need at least one more offseason in order to produce that. If they stay true to their word, even if Cousins were to get injured early in the season, they’d probably rather play Aidan O’Connell over Mendoza.
“Again, this approach happens all the time and rarely works out the way the team foresees. But this Raiders staff believes it has some runway to build things out the right way, and part of that plan is to wait on Mendoza until the team can support him better than it can right now.”
Klint Kubiak Is a Fan of O’Connell
O’Connell seemed to be on the outs until new head coach Klint Kubiak had some high praise for the young quarterback.
“We’re giving guys a fair share of reps, and I would not count Aidan out,” Kubiak said during Raiders Media Day. “Aidan’s had a phenomenal offseason. He’s a professional. He’s pushing Kirk, he’s pushing Fernando. I think John (Spytek) has given us a great group of three guys to work with … so we’ve just got to give them reps and make sure all three of those guys get time with the ones, and it’ll reveal itself.
“I think if we went and played the game tomorrow, I’d take any one of those three quarterbacks. I’m really excited about all three of them.”
O’Connell has gotten a bit of a raw deal the last couple of years. He should’ve started over Gardner Minshew in 2024 and should’ve started over Kenny Pickett when Geno Smith got hurt last season. It’s possible that he could be a capable starting quarterback in Kubiak’s offense.
What About a Trade?
It might not be the worst idea for the Raiders to try to showcase O’Connell a bit. Nobody is trading for Cousins this season at his age, especially if he gets benched. However, if O’Connell starts some games and looks good, that could interest some teams.
Unless he turns out to be the next Tom Brady, O’Connell doesn’t have a long-term future with the Raiders, so it makes sense to trade him if he has value.
Aidan O’Connell May Have Path to Start for Raiders: Insider