Best/Worst-Case Scenarios for the Raiders Ahead of Training Camp

What the ceiling and low point for the Las Vegas Raiders could be this season.

Las Vegas Raiders Aidan O'Connell, and Gardner Minshew from Mandatory Mini-Camp 2024 / Noah Scott Fahey, Sports Illustrated

The Las Vegas Raiders have a variety of directions the team could go in this coming season.

Within the organization, the consensus is that the Raiders are content with where they are at and hopeful about where they can be come January.

Many outside the organization, however, have already written them off. The common knock on the Raiders is the quarterback room, a unit that will have to prove itself in training camp as the Raiders look to find their starting quarterback.

In a recent article, Sports Illustrated publishers gave their takes on what the best- and worst-case scenarios are for the respective NFL teams they cover as training camp approaches.

Here's what our Hondo S. Carpenter Sr. had to say was the best-case scenario for the Silver and Black:

"QB Aidan O’Connell continues his impressive maturation in his sophomore campaign, and the Raiders win 10 regular-season games and make the AFC playoffs. The defense also becomes the No. 1 unit in the NFL."

O'Connell seems to be the favorite to earn the starting job under center, as the second-year Raiders quarterback comes off a rookie campaign in which he started the final nine games of the season, ultimately going 5-4 in that span.

Las Vegas defense finished as one of the league's best after Antonio Pierce became interim head coach, and on paper, the unit only got better this offseason, largely due to the signing of defensive tackle Christian Wilkins.

Here was Carpenter's worst-case scenario for the Raiders:

"O’Connell can’t build off a successful rookie campaign, and the Raiders have to move to Gardner Minshew II. The defense takes a step back after dominating the NFL last season when Antonio Pierce took over."

The Raiders have gone through enough quarterback changes in the last couple of seasons. After having Derek Carr as a staple in the offense for nearly a decade, the inconsistency at quarterback has been one that this club is not used to, and the offense has struggled because of it. Las Vegas will be looking to find that consistency at the position yet again.

With him being a young up-and-comer, that would ideally start with O'Connell.

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