Raiders Legend Gannon Reveals Regrets About QB Situation

The Las Vegas Raiders chose Gardner Minshew as the starting quarterback to begin the season. Now, Aidan O'Connell has looked like the real choice all along.

Dec 29, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Aidan O'Connell (12) drops back to pass against the New Orleans Saints during the first half at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

The Las Vegas Raiders made a choice in August: offseason signing Gardner Minshew II would be the starting quarterback to kick off 2024.

Head coach Antonio Pierce was confident that Minshew was the right answer, able to take the ball deep while giving the Raiders the best chance to win.

"Myself, [Tom] Telesco and Luke Getsy discussed it this morning," Pierce said. "A lot of things went into it. It wasn't based off of last night. There's a lot of factors. We feel like Gardner gives us the best opportunity to get off to a fast start."

The Raiders stumbled at the start, outside of a solid win over the Baltimore Ravens in Week 2, and it went downhill quickly with Minshew; the Washington State product's gunslinger tendencies and poor decisions burned the Silver and Black often.

Second-year Purdue product Aidan O'Connell, who ended 2023 as the starter, was called upon. He was soon out with a thumb injury and in the interim, the Raiders fired offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and Scott Turner took over.

O'Connell's return and the subsequently strong play he has had under Turner ignited the Raiders, who are amid a two-game winning streak to end the season.

The success has some looking back in hindsight with regret about the original decision made in August, such as former Raiders quarterback and NFL Most Valuable Player (2002), Rich Gannon.

Gannon recently spoke of it on the Raiders Roundtable podcast.

“I’m curious what the season would have looked like, if like if as a three of us talked about coming into training camp, I think all of us were a little bit surprised with a decision to go with Gardner Minshew, not Aidan O’Connell, especially after what accomplished last season,” Gannon said.

“I mean, the guy played 10 games. He won five of them. He beat the Chiefs. He beat the Chargers. He beat the Broncos. He went through a coaching change. He went through a coordinator change as a rookie. I thought there were some good things there and I was a bit surprised that the organization decided to start Gardner Minshew, not Aidan O’Connell. Just curious what that season would have looked like had they gone with Aidan O’Connell Week 1.”

It's better late than never, but one must wonder as to what the future will look like for O'Connell.

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