The Raiders are just weeks away from the start of training camp, and it appears they have a legitimate position battle playing out at quarterback.
Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew split reps in the offseason months, and according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler that approach isn’t likely to change before training camp.
Fowler did say, however, that O’Connell seems to have a “slight edge” in the competition.
“O’Connell and Minshew in the spring… went after it,” Fowler said on ESPN’s Sportscenter. “O’Connell probably has a slight edge right now based on coming into year two being more vocal. I’m told he’s acting like a starting quarterback, and Davante Adams loves him, which always helps certainly with the brownie points. But Minshew has come in and shown some moxie. He’s already got the offense, he’s changing plays at the line of scrimmage, I’m told. He’s been good at the off-script stuff so it would not be surprising at all and both quarterbacks got a start in a preseason game maybe… but we have ourselves a real battle in Las Vegas. “
The popular opinion a few months ago was that Minshew was the frontrunner to win the job, but there seems to have been a shift in popular opinion in the time since.
It will be interesting to see how the competition plays out, but there seems to be some momentum moving in the direction of O’Connell as the Raiders prepare to enter training camp.
Three weeks ago, Raiders quarterback coach Rich Scangarello said he didn’t expect the quarterback competition to drag out, and given O’Connell’s relationship with Antonio Pierce and Davante Adams, it could be that the Raiders’ second-year quarterback will get the benefit of any doubt going into the regular season opener.
One way or another, answers are coming soon…
