Brian Hoyer had a front-row seat to fellow quarterback Aidan O’Connell’s rookie year with the Raiders in 2023, serving as a backup or third QB for most of the year.
The Raiders did not retain Hoyer for 2024, moving on to a QB room led by O’Connell and Gardner Minshew. But during a recent guest hosting sting on SiriusXM NFL Radio, Hoyer shared his impressions of the young quarterback as the Purdue product readies for a training camp battle to be Las Vegas’ QB1.
“Being there first-hand and watching Aidan grow, I remember him saying at the end of the year, ‘I never thought this is how this year would play out,’” Hoyer said. “At the beginning of the year, he was third on the depth chart and then he ended up finishing the entire year. And I thought to see his growth and what he was able to do as a fourth-round pick was tremendous.”
Hoyer added that he was “kind of shocked” that the Raiders didn’t consider keeping former interim offensive coordinator Bo Hardegree permanently based on the work he did with O’Connell.
"[W]hen Bo took over as offensive coordinator in the middle of the year, it took a while, but things really started to pick up,” Hoyer said. “Obviously, we had the big game against the Chargers and then finished the year on a strong note.”
It’s worth noting, however, that the Raiders also had a game they lost to the Vikings 3-0, during which the club managed just eight first downs. O’Connell also did not complete a pass after the first quarter of the team’s 20-14 victory over Kansas City on Christmas Day.
So, the Raiders turned to former Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy to handle the same duties with Las Vegas in 2024. It remains to be seen how the Raiders’ competition will shake out. But Hoyer feels like O’Connell will have a shot to end up as QB1.
“[M]aybe I’m biased,” Hoyer said, “but I think what Aidan did last year — I know he hasn’t shown it as much as Gardner Minshew has throughout his career, but I know the guys really gravitated to the way Aidan took over and his leadership as a young player.”