Coach Pierce, Raiders Embracing Competition This Offseason

The Las Vegas Raiders have made moves this offseason that encouraged competition at nearly every position. Coach Antonio Pierce is doing his part to use competition to better the team.

November 5, 2023; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders interim head coach Antonio Pierce signals before the game against the New York Giants at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports / Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The Las Vegas Raiders have spent the entire offseason making coaching and roster moves to improve the team heading into next season. On paper, the Raiders' moves looked like simple roster additions and attractions. However, they were much more than that. Raiders general manager Tom Telesco strategically added players to nearly every position on the team. 

The moves Telesco made improved the depth at many positions, but it also raised the competition at those positions, as the depth pieces Telesco added are talented enough to push for starting positions or, at the very least, significant playing time this season.

Arguably, the most essential addition to the team Telesco and Coach Antonio Pierce made to bolster competition was veteran quarterback Gardner Minshew II, who the Raiders signed to compete with second-year quarterback Aidan O’Connell for the starting position.

"I think they embrace the competition,” Pierce said last week. “It's great. I mean, the best part about it is it's a friendly competition. And when I say friendly, we shake hands and kiss babies, but when we go out there, we're trying to both be the guy, and you love to see that, and our team sees it. And I said this probably early on in the offseason when you have competition - some people see competition at the quarterback position as like, 'Oh my God, we're scared.' No, I love it. Because the rest of our team, we're looking at them.”

Pierce noted the impact of healthy competition at the most critical position on the field. Coach Pierce says all eyes being on the competition between O’Connell and Minshew has led to the rest of the team improving their play on the field, as the other players feed off the quarterback competition, which helps bring the best out of them in practice.

“So what does everybody else on our team have to do? They have to compete,” Pierce said. “And what we now have is competition throughout our entire roster. There's competition in the running back room. That defensive line room, there are some boys in here, there's some grown men in there that can play football. We're not going to be able to keep all of them. Our linebacker room, our DBs, I mean there's some guys here. Seeing the competition at quarterback has risen the level of competition overall on our team."

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