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Veteran quarterback Gardner Minshew was thought to be in the driver’s seat for the starting position with the Las Vegas Raiders when he signed with the team this offseason, but second-year signal-caller Aidan O’Connell isn’t giving up his spot so easily.
On Sunday’s episode of SportsCenter, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that it’s actually O’Connell who has a leg up in the Raiders’ quarterback competition thanks in part to his prior relationship with star receiver Davante Adams.
“O’Connell and Minshew in the spring went tit for tat; went after it. O’Connell probably has the slight edge right now based on coming into Year 2, being more vocal,” Fowler said. “I’m told he’s acting like a starting quarterback and Davante Adams loves him, which always helps certainly with the brownie points.”
O’Connell played 11 games as a rookie and threw for 2,218 yards, 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions while completing 62.1 percent of his passes. Fowler added that Minshew is providing some real competition for the starting job as training camp approaches.
“But Minshew has come in, shown some moxie. He’s already got the offense, he’s changing plays at the line of scrimmage, I’m told,” Fowler said. “He’s been good at the off-script stuff.”
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Aidan O’Connell & Gardner Minshew make some throws in OTAs into the practice nets.
🎥: By @Sean_Zittel, Vegas Sports Today#RaiderNation pic.twitter.com/MauDo8wZVG
Minshew spent the 2023 season with the Indianapolis Colts and appeared in all 17 games while making 13 starts. He completed 62.2 percent of his passes for a career-high 3,305 yards while adding 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Fowler noted that it’s likely that the Raiders will give both Minshew and O’Connell a fair chance at earning the starting role for the 2024 campaign.
“It would be not surprising at all if both quarterbacks got a start in a preseason game,” he said. “Maybe they go O’Connell first game, Minshew the second game, depending on how the first couple weeks of camp go. And they’ll get a legitimate chance, but we have ourselves a real battle in Las Vegas.”
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