Las Vegas Raiders: Why rookie quarterback Aidan O’Connell could win the starting job

The Raiders could have a gem in Aidan O’Connell. The Raiders rookie is currently third on the depth chart, but I could see him quickly rising, especially if Jimmy Garappolo’s foot doesn’t heal as quickly as they need it to.

At that point, Jimmy might not even be on the team. But even if Jimmy’s foot is fine and he participates in training camp, let’s have a chat about the fourth-round draft pick, 135th overall, rookie quarterback Aidan O’Connell out of Purdue, and why I believe he could not only win the starting job, but maybe even be the future of the Las Vegas Raiders.

Raiders: Why rookie QB Aidan O’Connell could win the starting job

Aidan O’Connell Is Extremely Accurate

Okay, I know what you’re thinking. It’s college, and he wasn’t in the best conference. But listen, that doesn’t always matter when you’re talking about accuracy. Accuracy is something you either have or you don’t.

And O’Connell has it.

O’Connell played four seasons at Purdue, in 2019 he completed 62.8% of his passes, in 2020 he completed 64.7%, in 2021 he completed an insane 71.6%, and in 2022 he completed 64.1%. Let’s back up to that crazy 71.6% of passes completed in 2021, which shattered a school record, that hasn’t been broken in awhile.

Do you want to guess whose record it previously was? Former NFL quarterback, and future Hall of Famer Drew Brees. As I said, Aidan is extremely accurate.