Is Scott Turner the Right OC for Raiders' O'Connell?

Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Aidan O'Connell threw for a career-high in his first game under interim offensive coordinator Scotter Turner. O'Connell's next few games will be critical.

Nov 29, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Aidan O'Connell (12) rolls out to pass during the second half against the Kansas City Chiefs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell has been the team's best option at quarterback. However, three offensive coordinators later and O'Connell has again been tasked with turning the Raiders' season around.

The Raiders turned to O’Connell to guide them through the second half of last season. They have done so again this season after a season-ending injury to veteran quarterback Gardner Minshew. 

After the Raiders’ experiment with Luke Getsy failed miserably, they promoted Scott Turner to the interim offensive coordinator position heading into the team’s bye week. Since then, the Raiders offense has looked the best over the last two seasons, all while having arguably a worst roster it has had over this season and last season.

O’Connell returned to action on Friday against Kansas City. It was his first game with Turner as the play-caller. The second-year quarterback had missed the previous few games with an injury to his throwing hand prior to his first game with Turner calling the plays.

The second-year quarterback had missed the previous few games with an injury to his throwing hand prior to his first game with Turner calling the plays. It was also O'Connell's first game with a new center, as rookie offensive lineman Jackson Powers-Johnson played right guard the last time O'Connell played a game.

O'Connell threw for a career-high 340 yards, while completing nearly 66 percent of his pass attempts. He also completed the longest pass of his career, a 58-yard touchdown pass to Tre Tucker.

O'Connell spoke about what Turner has done to help him improve.

"Yeah, he's been clear with the communication,” O’Connell said. “It's been great to have him in meetings and kind of just going through what he thinks. And obviously, we haven't changed our entire offense, but there's been some wrinkles that he's added from his past. And so, it's just been fun to communicate with him to kind of pick his brain about what he thinks

Turner echoed the same sentiment when asked about O’Connell. Turner spent last season and the first half of this season as the team’s quarterback's coach. 

Now the team’s interim offensive coordinator, Turner, has more of a say so in the plays that are called, and he knows O’Connell better than anyone else. 

"Yeah, he's a really smart, focused individual,” Turner said. “He makes decisions on time, and for the most part, they’re the right decisions. No one's going to be 100%, but I always tell him if the ball is coming out of your hand, then I'm not going to be mad at you. I might coach you up on a different look, but there's always really good communication. He's not afraid to tell me how he feels about a call or a certain way we're doing a play. 

“And then I'll give it right back to him, whether I agree with him or I'll maybe explain to him why we have it a certain way, and then he'll get it. But he loves football. He's all in on it, and I think the more he plays, the more he'll continue to grow. But I wanted to give him a chance to make plays on Friday night, and he did. It was fun to see. Obviously, not the result we wanted, but there was a lot of really good things that our guys did. I was proud of them."

While the Raiders are likely to make numerous changes over the offseason that could impact the future of Turner and O'Connell, the duo could be a solid combination. Turner has been one of the few constants for O'Connell since entering the league, maybe he knows best how to get the most out of O'Connell.

The next five games are critical for both of them.

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