Adian O’Connell may or may not be the Raiders’ quarterback of the future. He showed something in 10 starts as a rookie in 2023, but did he show enough?
That’s one of the biggest questions new General Manager Tom Telesco and full-time head coach Antonio Pierce will have to answer this offseason.
O’Connell threw for 248 yards and four touchdowns in Telesco’s last game as the Chargers’ General Manager, a 63-21 win by the Raiders.
“I have a lot of learning to do to figure out this team from the inside, not from the outside,” Telesco said, via NFL Media. “Obviously, Aidan played pretty well against us. That’s a plus. But I need to get a lot more in depth with this team as far as more than just a couple games, and then talk with the staff. And we’ve got to do that at every position.
“That’s really, probably No. 1. At least for me, I have to know this team as well as I knew the team I just came from, which I don’t yet. But I’m going to get there pretty quick.”
The one definitive at the position is the starter won’t be Jimmy Garoppolo.
As soon as Pierce replaced Josh McDaniels midseason, he benched Garoppolo in favor of O’Connell, saying the rookie “gives us the best chance.”
O’Connell threw 12 touchdowns, six interceptions and averaged 201.6 yards per game in his 11 game appearances.
Pierce, though, isn’t promising anything for 2024 except that the Raiders will look at all their options at the position.
“I thought we saw growth with Aidan,” Pierce said. “At the end of the season, he was playing some really good football. Obviously, that led to some wins for us. But taking care of the football, being responsible, being more vocal, I think he put himself in a position to learn what it’s like to be a pro in the offseason. Because he can reflect on what he just did. If he didn’t have those opportunities, he would never know what mistakes he’d made.
“So I think it’s a great learning tool for him. Now that we have it on film, like Tom said, to evaluate it and really look at it going forward.”
