Raiders' Aidan O'Connell's Ability to Quickly Move on Helping Him in QB Competition

Few young quarterbacks in the National Football League have experienced as much as Aidan O'Connell has since being drafted. The second-year quarterback has learned to move on quickly.

Las Vegas Raiders QB Aidan O'Connell / Darrell Craig Harris, Sports Illustrated

Last season, things moved quickly, as former Raiders coach Josh McDaniels was fired and quarterback Aidan O’Connell was elevated to the starting quarterback position, both unexpectedly and within a couple of days of each other. O’Connell’s rise to the starting position was unexpected. 

However, his sudden rise likely helped the young quarterback compartmentalize things and not spend too much time thinking about the different aspects of all that comes with being a starting quarterback in the National Football League, especially for a rookie. This was arguably O’Connell’s most significant experience in the NFL, where he quickly processed unexpected information and outcomes and then played to the best of his ability. 

As he enters his second season in the league, O’Connell will again face his fair share of ups and downs, as every quarterback does. However, he now has an entire offseason of preparation, a better roster, and an improved coaching staff around him. He has continued to work on improving his game this offseason.

O'Connell said he’s learning all he can to help correct mistakes made during practices this offseason. 

“I think you want to stop and dissect it right there and figure out what went wrong. Sometimes you know it right away, and sometimes you don’t,” O’Connell said. “It’s not unique to our team or this situation. You want to fix the bad plays quickly, move on, and just keep executing the good plays.”

During this season’s training camp, the second-year quarterback saw significantly more repetitions than last offseason. This time, not only did he get more repetitions, but he did so against one of the league’s best defenses. This caused O’Connell to struggle at times. However, he also had some successes against the Raiders’ talented defense. This allowed him to continue developing the ability to move past failures quickly and improve on things he is already doing well.

“I think there’s really no other choice [but to move on quickly,]” O’Connell said. “Each play has enough mental stimulation for the quarterback that you have to lock in on that play. The play is coming into my helmet, fortunately. I have to move on. I quite literally have to think about the next play and think about whats coming up.”

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