The Las Vegas Raiders desperately needed a quarterback this offseason after a brutal 2024 campaign. A season that began with a competition between Aidan O'Connell and Gardner Minshew was dead on arrival, and Pete Carroll and John Spytek knew to remedy this immediately.
They released Minshew and reportedly shopped O'Connell during the NFL combine and leading up to the draft, but nothing materialized. With only sixth-round rookie Cam Miller potentially left to back up Geno Smith, many in Raider Nation felt that ultimately keeping O'Connell was a good insurance policy.
After all, O'Connell has appeared in 20 NFL games and has a 7-10 record as a starter since entering the league in 2023. He earned the No. 2 spot on the Raiders' initial depth chart that was released earlier this week, but he dramatically underperformed in the first preseason game.
Raiders should move on from Aidan O'Connell after Cam Miller flashes
O'Connell's numbers did not look too bad at a glance, completing 18 of his 30 passes for 205 yards and a touchdown. However, he also threw two interceptions, one on a brutal underthrow that could have been a touchdown to Dont'e Thornton Jr. The other came from him staring down Alex Bachman.
Despite plenty of positive reports from training camp about O'Connell's progress and both Carroll and Chip Kelly praising him at length, he looked like the same quarterback he did last season. O'Connell made some solid throws but struggled with overall accuracy and has not improved his mobility.
By contrast, Miller came in and instantly made an impact with a great throw on a deep ball to Shedrick Jackson, who was able to run free after Miller made a great pump fake on a sluggo route. He was also able to use his legs to pick up a first down, as opposed to O'Connell, who struggled to get one yard on two quarterback sneaks.
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Miller's ability to run alone opened up the running game for Dylan Laube and Chris Collier, as the defense was not able to solely focus on the running back on read option plays. He did hold onto the ball too long and took a bad sack, but he also extended several plays and made throws on the run, leading a drive for what would have been a game-winning field goal.
Carroll is left with an obvious decision about what to do with O'Connell after Miller showed the upside to grow into a backup quarterback this season. Las Vegas should be seeking a trade partner for the third-year pro, but if a desirable package does not come about, the team could simply part ways with him.
The argument for keeping O'Connell is that the team has an experienced signal-caller if something happens to Smith. However, if Smith misses more than a game or two, the season may be lost anyway, and O'Connell showed tonight that he is no more reliable than Miller is in a pinch against backups.