Which Raiders are under the most pressure this season?

NFL rosters are far from complete this time of year, but as training camp ensues and the preseason starts, hopefully, many of the questions from the offseason or OTAs will be answered. Some teams are banking on players developing into starters or solid depth pieces, while others are waiting to see who wins a positional battle.

The Raiders have a bit of a mixed bag in this realm, where at some positions they are among the best in the league, but at others, they are awaiting training camp performances to see who develops into a rotational piece and who starts. Maurice Moton of Sportsnaut provided three Raiders players who he feels are under the most pressure to perform later this month in Costa Mesa. 

Aidan O’Connell

Obviously, the quarterback position is the most important in football, and arguably in all of sports. It is difficult to win without at least a solid quarterback and nearly impossible to win big games in the playoffs without at least a good one. Enter Aidan O’Connell, the Raiders' incumbent quarterback, if you will. Antonio Pierce has backed him since he took over as head coach last November, and many believe that even though it is a true quarterback battle, that it is AOC’s job to lose. 

The various reports from Raiders OTAs were not very promising, as multiple attendees confirmed that neither O’Connell nor Minshew performed well enough to separate themselves. It is fine for a quarterback battle to extend into the preseason, and this one will, but the hope is that both players are giving you a reason to start them instead of a reason to make them a backup. You want your quarterback to be someone you choose, not someone you settle for. I am not sure how high expectations for O’Connell should be, as Moe Moton points out that he would be one of only four Day 3 selections to be a starting NFL quarterback this season should he win the job.

If the battle continues in this fashion and neither QB distinguishes himself, I would still start AOC on Day 1 because he is a younger player with more potential to tap into. Gardner Minshew is a player where you know what you are going to get and he can be plugged in at any point later on down the road. That being said, I agree that the pressure is on for AOC.