Raiders QB Aidan O'Connell is expected to miss 4-6 weeks with his broken thumb, according to NFL Network. He'll be placed on IR but should be able to return this season. Vegas will now turn back to QB Gardner Minshew, who's completed 65.5% of his passes at 6.7 yards per attempt with four TDs and eight INTs this season. Consider it a lateral move for the Raiders offense.
Raiders QB Aidan O'Connell is believed to have suffered a broken right thumb in the first half of Sunday's game vs. the Rams, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Considering that's his throwing hand, the injury figures to cost O'Connell multiple weeks. Vegas will turn back to QB Gardner Minshew, who was benched for O'Connell after Week 5.
Raiders QB Aidan O'Connell injured his right thumb in the first quarter of Sunday's game vs. the Rams and is questionable to return. He's been replaced by QB Gardner Minshew. We'll update O'Connell's status when we know more.
Playing without Davante Adams or Jakobi Meyers, Raiders TE Brock Bowers tallied 9 catches for 71 yards in a blowout loss to Pittsburgh. His 10 targets – a 25% share – easily led all Raiders pass catchers.
Raiders HC Antonio Pierce named QB Aidan O'Connell the starter for this weekend's game vs. the Steelers. O'Connell has already seen action in place of QB Gardner Minshew twice this season, completing 19 of 32 passes (59%) for 176 yards (5.5 YPA), one TD, and one INT. He made 10 starts as a rookie last year, finishing with a 62% completion rate and 6.5 yards per attempt. O'Connell did have his three best games of the season over the final four weeks, ranking 14th among 39 qualifying QBs in Pro Football Focus passing grade during that stretch.
Raiders QB Gardner Minshew was benched near the end of the third quarter of Sunday's game vs. the Broncos. It's the second time he's been yanked this season. Minshew completed 12 of 17 passes for 137 yards, one TD, and two INTs, leading Vegas to just 10 points. We'll see how QB Aidan O'Connell fares the rest of the way and what the Raiders do at QB moving forward. It'll continue to be a situation to avoid in fantasy lineups.
The Raiders are sticking with QB Gardner Minshew as their starter, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Minshew was benched in the fourth quarter of Sunday's loss to the Panthers after producing just 15 points against a defense that had struggled mightily over the first two weeks. We'll see if Minshew can survive a much tougher Week 4 matchup against the Browns. He's not even a recommended QB2 starter for that one -- and we still expect to see QB Aidan O'Connell at some point this season.
Raiders HC Antonio Pierce didn't rule out a QB change at his Monday press conference, according to The Athletic's Vic Tafur. QB Gardner Minshew was yanked from Sunday's loss to the Panthers after throwing a bad INT in the fourth quarter. He finished 18 of 28 (64%) for 214 yards (7.6 YPA) with one TD and one INT. QB Aidan O'Connell played the final drive of the game, completing nine of 12 passes (75%) for 82 yards (6.8 YPA) and a score -- against Carolina's prevent defense.
Raiders HC Antonio Pierce announced Sunday that QB Gardner Minshew will start Week 1, leaving Aidan O'Connell to back him up. Pierce said the decision was based on many factors and not based on their performances in the second preseason game. O'Connell threw a pick-6 late in that game. The coach said they believe Minshew gives the team the best chance to start fast.
ESPN's Jeremy Fowler believes Aidan O'Connell "probably has the slight edge right now" in the Raiders' QB competition against Gardner Minshew. Fowler calls it "a real battle."
The Raiders are signing QB Gardner Minshew to a 2-year, $25 million deal with $15 million guaranteed, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. That contract doesn't guarantee that Minshew will be the team's 2024 starter, but it at least makes him the favorite. With QB Jimmy Garoppolo set to be released, QB Aidan O'Connell currently stands as Minshew's competition. We'll see if the Raiders add anything else significant this offseason. They currently hold the 13th overall pick of April's draft. Minshew is good enough to keep an NFL offense on track but will not be an exciting fantasy option in Vegas. He averaged 229 passing yards and 1.1 TDs in 13 full games for the Colts last season. The Minshew addition does bring some stability to the fantasy outlooks of Davante Adams, Jakobi Meyers, and Michael Mayer.
Raiders HC Antonio Pierce said from the Combine that the team's starting QB job is Aidan O'Connell's to lose, per Levi Edwards of the team's official website. With QB Jimmy Garoppolo expected to be released within the next couple of weeks and Brian Hoyer the only other QB on the roster, we wouldn't expect Pierce to say anything different. O'Connell was just ok as a fourth-round rookie last year, completing 62.1% of his passes at 6.5 yards per attempt with 12 TDs vs. seven INTs. He ranked 23rd among 30 qualifying QBs in Pro Football Focus' passing grades. We fully expect the Raiders to make a relatively significant addition at QB this offseason -- potentially a trade for QB Justin Fields or a drafting a first-round rookie. We're betting against O'Connell leading Vegas in 2024 passing attempts and wouldn't target him in early best-ball drafts.
QB Jimmy Garoppolo has been suspended two games for violating the NFL's Performance Enhancing Substances Policy, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. Garoppolo reportedly used a banned medication without having an exception from the league. He will not appeal the suspension and will miss the first two games of the 2024 campaign. Schefter also confirms that the Raiders will release Garoppolo before the fifth day of the new league year in mid-March, saving the team an $11.25 million roster bonus. Garoppolo will be able to participate in the offseason program and training camp with his new team, despite the suspension. The Raiders, meanwhile, will be left with QBs Aidan O'Connell and Brian Hoyer. They'll certainly add to that group in free agency and/or the draft.
Kliff Kingsbury has pulled his name out of consideration for the Raiders' OC job, according to his agent. ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that contract talks between the two sides broke down late in the process. We'll see who the Raiders eventually land on as OC under HC Antonio Pierce. Kingsbury, meanwhile, is a "leading candidate" for the Commanders' OC job, per Schefter.
The Raiders are set to hire Kliff Kingsbury as their new OC under HC Antonio Pierce, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports. Kingsbury had an underwhelming tenure as Cardinals HC from 2019 to 2022, going 28-37-1 over those four seasons. He landed two of those teams inside the top 8 in total yards, but none cracked the top 10 in points. Kingsbury at least deployed fast-paced attacks, with three of his four offenses finishing top 3 in pace. We'll see exactly how Kingsbury meshes with the defensive-minded Pierce. The Raiders offense has some big questions to answer this offseason, with RB Josh Jacobs set to hit free agency and QB Jimmy Garoppolo a strong release candidate.
The Raiders clearly led Indianapolis in time of possession (by 6.5 minutes) and ran 74 plays to the Colts' 53 in Sunday's loss. That led to particularly big numbers in the passing game. QB Aidan O'Connell attempted a season-high 47 passes -- just six higher than his second-biggest total, but 13 ahead of No. 3. His 30 completions and 299 yards also easily set season highs. The big volume -- and Las Vegas playing catchup late -- produced a whopping 21 targets for WR Davante Adams. He caught 13 for 126 yards and 2 TDs. WR Jakobi Meyers followed with a 6-56 line on 10 targets. Adams drew a target on 44.7% of O'Connell's attempts, claimed 43.3% of his completions, and tallied 42.1% of the receiving yards. Meyers' 10 targets, meanwhile, accounted for a just OK 21.3% target share. Expect all those numbers to fall -- probably by quite a bit -- in the regular-season finale against the Broncos.
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