Raiders fans have had a tough go of it this offseason. Despite the whole "firing a coach in the middle of last season" routine, they actually looked like they were headed in the right direction after firing Josh McDaniels in the middle of last season. There was immediate on-field improvement under then-interim coach Antonio Pierce, and he won over the locker room enough to be given the job in full shortly after the season ended. Things were looking up.
Then Tom Telesco gave Gardner Minshew 20 million dollars. Now the Raiders are forced with staring down an eight-win season full of Minshew performances that offer occasional moments of entertainment but will mostly just infuriate everyone. (I'm not going to get into the Aidan O'Connell wrinkle because, I mean, you know.) And given how much talk about signing Dak Prescott or drafting Shedeur Sanders is already out there, QB expectations for this season in Las Vegas feel appropriately bearish.
BUT for as bad as things will get this year in Las Vegas, it could be worse: they could be the Broncos. There's something deeply soothing – rejuvinating, even – about the idea that the Raiders' QB situation isn't even the worst one in their own division. Remember when people wanted them to draft Bo Nix? According to The Ringer's NFL writer Steven Ruiz, Nix goes into his rookie season as the *worst* QB in football.
The Ringer's QB Rankings Are Here To Save Raiders Fans
"After the whole Taysom Hill thing, I’m no longer taking Sean Payton’s word for it when it comes to quarterbacks. That’s probably a mistake. He knows way more about the position than I do, but I also didn’t compare Hill to Steve Young, so maybe it’s closer than I’m giving myself credit for ... In the preseason, Nix didn’t appear any more comfortable in the pocket. He wasted clean pockets to get outside of them, where he seems to feel more confident in what he’s seeing."
Yes! Ha haaaaaaaaaaa. That is how it feels. Imagine trying to trick the Raiders into trading up to draft Bo Nix, failing, drafting Bo Nix, and then having him enter his rookie season ranked as the worst quarterback in the NFL. And imagine wearing those hideous new jerseys while you're at it. I'd prefer to pay $20 million for the 31st-best QB on The Ringer's list, thank you very much.