If you ask any Las Vegas Raiders fan what the story of the offseason has been, or what it'll be during the preseason or the regular season, they would tell you that it is the quarterback battle between Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza. The proven veteran versus a promising rookie. A true NFL classic.
Just because Mendoza was the No. 1 overall pick doesn't mean that he's going to start. The Raiders have made it clear that the best player will play, and their $20 million investment in Cousins certainly isn't nothing. And Las Vegas has been making the rookie earn it through the offseason program.
Most of the speculation for the Silver and Black has been exactly when Mendoza will take the reins, as it is a foregone conclusion in the minds of Raider Nation that he will at some point during the 2026 NFL season. Maybe that'll be in Week 3. Maybe it's in Week 6. Maybe it's not at all in his first year.
Maybe it's... not even Cousins under center in Week 1 either?
Klint Kubiak says Aidan O'Connell shouldn't be counted out of Las Vegas Raiders' QB battle
During Monday's media day, head coach Klint Kubiak sat with Amber Theoharis, James Jones and Eric Allen to discuss the team. When he was asked about how to orchestrate the logistics of the battle between Cousins and Mendoza to get a good look at both, Kubiak went a bit off script.
"Yeah, I think we're just giving guys a fair share of reps. And I would not count Aidan [O'Connell] out," Kubiak said. "Aidan's had a phenomenal offseason, he's a professional. He's pushing Kirk, he's pushing Fernando. I think John [Spytek]'s given us a great group of three guys to work with."
Well, that is quite the shocking twist. I bet nobody had that on their Bingo card.
While the bulk of the attention has been focused on how Mendoza is progressing thus far and whether Cousins gives the team a fighting chance early in the year, O'Connell has seemingly snuck up on both the coaching staff and the fanbase. As he always seems to.
Is it still a long shot that O'Connell starts in Week 1, or really at any point this year, barring an unforeseen circumstance? In my opinion, yes. It stands to reason that the Raiders probably don't want to start O'Connell after spending $20 million on Cousins and using the No. 1 pick on Mendoza.
But who knows what this staff will do? Maybe they meant what they said when they told the world that the best player would start. To most, that meant whoever performs better between Cousins and Mendoza. Perhaps writing off O'Connell this early was a mistake, and he's been the best guy so far.
Now, it is just OTAs. Contact isn't allowed, so it's not real football, and when the live bullets start flying in training camp and the preseason, the entire picture changes. Luckily, big decisions like this aren't being made at the beginning of June.
Another component to this is that there has been a lot of smoke about a potential O'Connell trade, with both destinations and his value being thrown out there. An argument exists, however, to keep O'Connell and make him the long-term backup, especially if he's playing as well as he seems to be.
At the very least, though, these words from Kubiak give credence to Q Myers' idea that Mendoza could start the year as the third-string quarterback. But whatever the root of these comments is, it is hard to say that any Raiders fan saw anything like this coming from Kubiak.
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