3 huge overreactions from the Las Vegas Raiders win vs 49ers
By Brad Weiss
Aidan O'Connell should be the Raiders No. 2 QB
The Las Vegas Raiders made the decision to start a rookie under center on Sunday, as former Purdue Boilermaker Aidan O'Connell took the first snaps of the 2023 regular season. O'Connell has been a head-turner during his first summer with the Raiders, and on Sunday, he played outstanding football from start to finish.
O'Connell led the Raiders to touchdowns on the first and last drives of the first half, and then opened up the second half with a drive that ended in a field goal. In the end, O'Connell finished up his NFL debut by going 15-of-18 passing for 141 yards and a touchdown, posting a passer rating over 117.
That leads us to our first overreaction from preseason game No. 1, and that is that O'Connell should supplant Brian Hoyer as the No. 2 quarterback behind Jimmy Garoppolo. We know what Hoyer is as a quarterback, and he can stay on as an emergency guy now that the NFL will allow three quarterbacks on Gameday, but O'Connell should be next in line if Garoppolo goes down with an injury.