The Las Vegas Raiders Have a Quarterback Conundrum
Quarterback is usually the most polarizing position on a football team, and rightfully so. For the Las Vegas Raiders, that is especially the case and has been since the departure of Derek Carr.
Seven games into the season, the Silver and Black find themselves at a crossroads. They are coming from a loss to a rookie, undrafted quarterback who made his first career start in the National Football League in a game they should have won.
While this is the NFL and any team can win on any given Sunday, this was a game the Raiders should have won and would have if their quarterback position was more solidified.
You can't blame him for not wanting one, but the Las Vegas Raiders Coach Josh McDaniels has a quarterback conundrum on his hands.
Darrell Craig Harris, Raiders Today
The problem for the Raiders is that starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is not healthy; he can't stay healthy, and even if he were healthy, the offense has been stagnant with him at the helm.
To make matters worse, Las Vegas will more than likely have Garoppolo on the roster through next season.
That leaves Raiders Coach Josh McDaniels with a decision to make. Garoppolo is clearly not the long-term answer, as his play leaves much to be desired. However, because of his contract, he's not going anywhere any time soon.
Then there's Brian Hoyer, who is a decent backup quarterback but also isn't the long-term answer for Las Vegas, as his play in the preseason and his start against the Bears confirmed.
The third option McDaniels has is rookie Aidan O'Connell, who performed well in the preseason and played decently well in his first start against the Los Angeles Chargers, all things considered, but is still a rookie.
"Yeah, but this isn't the pre-season anymore," McDaniels said when asked about O'Connell following Las Vegas' loss to the Bears. "We had an entire week of practice in L.A., most of the week. We had an opportunity to practice him.
"There were some good things. There were some other things that we needed to work on and fix, and obviously get better and improve. Such is life, in that regard.
"When your starter is not available, you're trying to make what you think is the best decision for the team. Again, I don't put this all on one person now. Let's make sure we make that clear. There are a lot of people who can do a better job than what we did today."
McDaniels has a tough decision to make at the quarterback position, and it is undoubtedly one of the most important decisions of his head coaching career.
Only McDaniels knows which quarterback best fits his offense, but he also knows exactly what he has in two of the three quarterbacks on the roster.
Only one of the three quarterbacks has an unknown amount of potential yet to be fully tapped. Instead of teaching old dogs new tricks, perhaps McDaniels will consider molding his rookie quarterback into the quarterback he desperately needs right now.
The Silver and Black will stay on the road to take on the Detroit Lions on Monday night, Oct. 30, at 8:15 p.m. EDT/5:15 p.m. PDT.
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