Will Raiders Offense Pass or Fail With QB Change?

The Las Vegas Raiders have made a change at quarterback. It will be interesting to see if the shake up will change the Raider offense for better or worse.

Sep 22, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Aidan O'Connell (12) takes the field before the start of a game against the Carolina Panthers at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images / Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

The Las Vegas Raiders (2-3) are moving in a different direction at the quarterback position going forward and there is a big question mark on if the offensive production will rise or continue to fall in Sunday's home matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2).

Second-year gunslinger Aidan O'Connell was named the starting quarterback on Monday by Raiders coach Antonio Pierce, taking over for Gardner Minshew II, who started the first five games of the season.

In his first five games as a Raider, Minshew completed just over 70% of his passes for a total of 1,014 yards and four touchdowns. The issue that caused the veteran quarterback to be benched: five interceptions, averaging one per game.

“Gardner did a lot of really good things, he really did,” said Raiders offensive coordinator Luke Getsy on Thursday. “I think the expectations of plays, he completely understood it, I think the grasp of the offense he got it, his ability to function in and out of the huddle, all that stuff. I think it just comes down to, we got to make sure we take care of the football. This game, especially in the NFL level, it's usually determined by that, and then, we've had a couple plays here and there that didn't give us an opportunity to win, and so, as a whole, we just decided that we're going to try another thing.”

O'Connell started 10 games last season and was the main guy for the Raiders offense after trading starter Jimmy Garoppolo halfway through the year. The former Purdue standout led his team to a 5-5 record in his time as the helm, throwing for 2,218 yards, 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

The fact that O'Connell threw just seven picks in 10 starts last season compared to Minshew's five in five games this year, is a leading factor in the decision to make the quarterback switch. Taking care of the football is the No. 1 priority as a quarterback, and the young gun has done a better job of it.

Being utilized exclusively in garbage time so far this season, O'Connell has seen limited snaps in the backup role but has shown his ability to be a guy to minimize the turnovers and give his team the best chance at victory.

“There's a confidence and there's a comfort in knowing we're just going to pick up and roll with this guy," Getsy said regarding O'Connell. "There's no worry about any of that kind of stuff with Aidan [O’Connell], and I think Aidan has a lot of traits that you guys all saw last year, and we're just going to build off of that, continue to grow. I think as much as anything, he's a guy who hasn't played a ton of ball and he's going to just keep getting better each and every day, we've seen that over the last five or six weeks even when he wasn't the guy.”

A win on Sunday puts the Raiders at 3-3 and boosts the confidence of the entire organization with O'Connell leading the charge. If the opposite occurs, they will be two games under .500 with even more questions brewing as to what the Raiders should do at quarterback moving forward.

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