Raiders’ Aidan O’Connell named starting QB for Week 6 vs. Steelers as Gardner Minshew benched

The Las Vegas Raiders have a new starting quarterback. Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce has named Aidan O’Connell as his new QB1 for the team’s upcoming game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

Pierce benched Gardner Minshew in favor of O’Connell in the third quarter of the Raiders’ Week 5 loss to the division-rival Denver Broncos after Minshew had completed 12 of 17 passes for 137 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. (One of those turnovers was a 100-yard pick-6.) O’Connell did not look particularly good in relief, going just 10 of 20 for 94 yards and an interception of his own.

This was one of the least inspiring quarterback competitions in the league during the preseason, with Minshew and O’Connell both struggling and Pierce eventually naming the veteran as the starter.

The Raiders collected surprising wins in Weeks 2 and 4, but have largely struggled to get anything going offensively this season. Minshew has completed 71% of his passes at an average of 7.2 yards per attempt, but he has thrown only four touchdowns against five interceptions and has taken sacks on 9.7% of his dropbacks. The Raiders have yet to score more than 26 points or gain more than 331 total yards in any game so far this season.

O’Connell looked OK in limited action during his rookie season, but even during that stint his 6.3 yards-per-attempt mark was below average, and he threw both touchdowns and interceptions at below-average rates as well. He did well mostly to avoid sacks, but did not provide much in the way of upside. With Davante Adams likely not long for Las Vegas, it seems unlikely he would find much success even if given the opportunity to start the rest of the way.

It does not appear that either player will be the long-term answer for the Raiders under center, and they will instead likely be in the market again next offseason.