When you look across the national media, the 2024 NFL season is predicted to be another lost one for the Las Vegas Raiders. Many media experts feel they will fall outside of the playoffs once again, even with some key additions made by the franchise this offseason.
Be that as it may, the Raiders roster is in much better shape than it was a year ago, and has the potential to put a top-10 defense on the field this year. Newly minted head coach Antonio Pierce had this team playing with passion down the stretch last season, and the hope is that will translate into the franchise taking a big step forward in his first full season at the helm.
As we inch closer to training camp, the time has come to take a look at the current roster and see what the Week 1 unit could look like when all is said and done.
Raiders 2024 Pre-training camp 53-man roster projection
Quarterback (2): Aidan O'Connell, Gardner Minshew
The Raiders currently have a handful of quarterbacks on their roster, but the real competition will be between two men this offseason. Gardner Minshew was brought in to battle incumbent starter Aidan O'Connell for first-team reps, and while O'Connell will get the first shot at the starting job this summer, this is a battle that will rage on across all of August.
Minshew and O'Connell both had some solid moments last season, and have both won big games at the NFL level. The question will be whether or not O'Connell can stave off Minshew and show the kind of play he did down the stretch last season, where he beat all three AFC West foes.