Aidan O'Connell

O’Connell will battle Gardner Minshew to start this season for the Raiders. A 2023 fourth-round pick, O’Connell began last season as the No. 3 QB only to be named starter Week 9 over both Jimmy Garoppolo and backup Brian Hoyer after coach Josh McDaniels was fired. O’Connell’s arm is merely average, and while he had his moments, he was not prolific. He ranked 28th in on-target percentage (68.5) for a 62.1 completion percentage that ranked 27th. And it’s not like he threw a ton of deep passes -- 50.1 percent of his attempts came within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage (4th most) with only 8.7 percent going 20-plus yards (22nd). His 6.5 YPA ranked 25th, and he threw just 12 TD passes in 11 games. O’Connell also is immobile -- zero scramble yards last season. Minshew, who signed a two-year $25 million contract after 13 starts for the Colts, is more efficient and at least offers scrambling upside. Other than Davante Adams, the surrounding talent isn’t much (though the team has quality tight ends in Michael Mayer and first-round pick Brock Bowers), and both QBs have a new offensive coordinator in Luke Getsy, who fielded one of the league’s worst passing offenses the last two years in Chicago. Read Past Outlooks