Getty Tom Telesco & Antonio Pierce of the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Las Vegas Raiders could have a completely new quarterback room in 2024. The team is likely to move on from Jimmy Garoppolo and 38-year-old Brian Hoyer is a cut candidate if he doesn’t retire, leaving just Aidan O’Connell.
However, even if the Raiders draft a quarterback, they likely would also keep a veteran on the roster. Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr predicted the team would sign San Francisco 49ers quarterback Sam Darnold to be that veteran.
“The Raiders are going to bring in competition for Aidan O’Connell, and that quarterback’s name is … Sam Darnold,” Orr wrote in a February 12 column on “one bold prediction” for each team in the league. “The former No. 3 pick boosted his signability after a year in the Kyle Shanahan system. Darnold has struggled at times but, similarly, has also displayed an incredibly high ceiling. This is especially true when Darnold is throwing on the move. [Offensive coordinator] Luke Getsy majored in a strain of the Shanahan offense during his time in Green Bay with the Packers and was a solid play-caller in Chicago.”
Darnold first came into the NFL as the No. 3 pick of the New York Jets in 2018 but has struggled to play at a high level. He spent the last season on the 49ers but could get on the field for only one start, which he lost.
Does Sam Darnold Still Have Upside?
Darnold, who turns 27 in June, will be entering his seventh season having never thrown 20 or more touchdown passes in a single season. Out of quarterbacks to play over 20 games since 2021, Darnold has the second highest interception percentage (2.9%) in the NFL, trailing only Justin Fields of the Chicago Bears.
He signed with the 49ers in 2023 to work with head coach Kyle Shanahan, who is known as one of the league’s quarterback developers. However, Darnold didn’t get a chance to play much in 2023, so it remains to be seen what — if any — effect Shanahan had on Darnold’s growth as a passer.
There will likely be a team that wants to give the former USC star a chance. At 6-foot-3 and with a big arm, he has traits teams like in quarterbacks. But he has not been able to win consistently in the NFL. In 56 starts, he is 21-35 with almost as interceptions (56) as touchdowns (63). Meanwhile, Raiders rookie O’Connell’s 2.0% interception percentage in 2023 was lower than Arnold’s in any season of his career.
Sam Darnold DIME 🎯
Important to Have a Capable Backup
As the Raiders learned last season, it’s important to have a capable backup quarterback. Luckily for them, O’Connell was able to play well enough to win games after Garoppolo was benched. If Orr’s prediction to sign Darnold as a backup plays out, there would be worse options out there.
He’s still young enough to have some upside. In fact, he’s only a year younger than O’Connell despite playing in the NFL for five more seasons. The Raiders could certainly do worse than having a quarterback room filled with a rookie, O’Connell and Darnold. That would give the team three quarterbacks with some potential. Antonio Pierce may want a more proven veteran on the roster like Russell Wilson, but that also seems unlikely.