Aidan O’Connell took over as the Raiders full-time starting quarterback after the team fired head coach Josh McDaniels midway through the 2023 season.
With O’Connell at the helm, Las Vegas finished 5-4 under then-interim, now full-time head coach Antonio Pierce. But in their introductory press conference this week, Pierce and General Manager Tom Telesco made it clear that they’re set to explore all options at quarterback this offseason.
O’Connell, a fourth-round pick in the 2023 draft, said this week that he’s just fine with that.
“It would be right to have competition in this league. It’s the NFL, it’s the best of the best,” O’Connell said, via Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “It’s my job to try and keep my job and it’s the people around [me’s] decision to try and get the best person for that job. At the end of the day, it is a business and I understand that.”
O’Connell finished his rookie campaign having completed 62.1 percent of his passes for 2,218 yards with 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions — good for a 83.9 passer rating. As the season went on, he did a better job of protecting the football as he did not commit a turnover in his last four starts.
But O’Connell didn’t always lead the Raiders’ offense to many points, as evidenced by the team’s 3-0 loss to the Vikings on Dec. 12. While Las Vegas beat Kansas City on Christmas Day, O’Connell didn’t complete a pass at all after the first quarter.
So, while O’Connell is grateful for the experience and comfort gained by playing, he knows he has a lot to improve upon entering 2024. O’Connell noted he’ll be in Las Vegas for the majority of the offseason to prepare for whatever comes next.
“There hasn’t really been a lot of years where I’ve been the unquestioned starter going in. I’m used to competing,” O’Connell said. “I had to compete to get to the spot that I’m in.”
