July 23rd marks the beginning of training camp for the Raiders. Two days earlier the rookies will arrive to take their lumps. The first preseason game kicks off in one month from now. You can feel it in the air that Las Vegas Raiders football is almost back again.
This upcoming training camp is going to be an important one, unlike others, because of the quarterback competition alone. Everyone's attention will be laser-focused on Aidan O'Connell and Gardner Minshew as they lock horns for starting supremacy. A good indicator of who starts the regular season should be who gets the nod in the dress rehearsal preseason.
The only way to settle it will be on the field in training camp and the preseason. This battle might not be decided until Week 1 and we haven't witnessed something this compelling since before the days of Derek Carr.
Their offensive coordinator Luke Getsy has to prove to people that he is better than what he did in Chicago and that the vibe surrounding him changes. His quarterbacks are about as mediocre as Justin Fields were in Chicago, but he does have something that he didn't have in Chicago and that is a receiving corps. Not to mention that Zamir White looks ready to take on defenses in a recent photo he took. With the confidence put in the offensive line, Getsy and his offense have little to complain about.
In 2023 Getsy and the Bears started out 0-4, but won four of their last six. They scored 104 points and upset the NFC Championship runner-up Detroit Lions. In the win over Vegas, Getsy's offense didn't do anything head-turning, but it was enough to win over coach Pierce, or was it because he got spurned by Kliff Kingsbury and was all that he had left to choose from?
Defensively, how will offensive lines deal with the new pairing of Maxx Crosby and Christian Wilkins? We might not see them together until the regular season commences to avoid injuries. Will teams double-team both of them or just one man? And will Tyree Wilson, now healthy, show why he was deserving to be a top-10 pick under Josh McDaniels, instead of someone like Jalen Carter?
The AFC West improved immensely and the Raiders may be the only team without a franchise quarterback. Plus, coach Pierce is not on the level of Andy Reid or Jim Harbaugh, but can his defense overtake the Chiefs as they did in Kansas City on Christmas Day? In all, the Raiders have the ingredients to vie for a playoff berth, but it will ultimately come down to how O'Connell or Minshew perform in the spotlight.