Raiders' Pierce: O'Connell earned right to compete for starting job
Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce says quarterback Aidan O'Connell will compete for the club's starting job in training camp.
"At the end of the day, listen, Aidan O'Connell played his ass off. He did a helluva job for us," Pierce told Steve Wyche of NFL Network.
"You're talking about a kid that has the mental toughness to play in the National Football League. Whatever happens and whatever we do, it has to go through Aidan O'Connell. Being honest with you because he's earned that right."
The Raiders selected O'Connell in the fourth round of the 2023 draft. This past season, he took over the starting job after Jimmy Garoppolo was benched in Week 9. O'Connell went 5-5 in 10 starts, totaling 2,218 passing yards with 12 touchdowns and 7 interceptions.
The Raiders' offense struggled under O'Connell, ranking 26th in offensive success rate from Weeks 9-18. The defense, however, showed promise: It was second in EPA/play during that stretch.
Las Vegas signed quarterback Gardner Minshew to a two-year, $25 million contract in free agency. He has 37 career starts, including 13 with the Indianapolis Colts last season. He went 7-6 and helped the team stay in playoff contention after rookie Anthony Richardson suffered a season-ending shoulder injury.
After finishing the campaign 8-9, Las Vegas owns the No. 13 pick in the upcoming draft, so the team can either trade up for a quarterback or stay put and snag a signal-caller that remains on the board. But Pierce says he'll leave that decision to the team's general manager, Tom Telesco.
"He's done it for a long time. I got a lot of trust in him. I think he's seen it wherever he's been," Pierce said. "Peyton Manning, Andrew Luck, becomes a GM with the Chargers, Philip Rivers, Justin Herbert. So he knows something about quarterbacks. So I'm going to let him figure it out."
The Raiders hired Pierce on a full-time basis this offseason after he filled in as their interim head coach last campaign. He led Las Vegas to a 5-4 record after the team got off to a 3-5 start under Josh McDaniels.
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