It’s Time for the Raiders to Do the Thing

At 2-5, the Las Vegas Raiders’ somewhat bizarre quarterback experiment is not working.

It’s Time for the Raiders to Do the Thing

Barring an unforeseen win spurt, Las Vegas will miss the postseason and search for answers in about 2.5 months. Employing Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell has not done the trick, the club traded Davante Adams to the New York Jets two weeks ago, and the organization is squandering a productive rookie season from tight end Brock Bowers.

For now, the Raiders’ future is bleak. It’s time for Las Vegas to do the thing — draft a quarterback in Round 1 next April. Here’s why.

The Only NFL Team without a QB Plan

With a possible exception of the Cleveland Browns — if Deshaun Watson never returns to form (he probably won’t), and Cleveland doesn’t love Dorian Thompson-Robinson — the Raiders are the only team in the NFL with no long-term plan at quarterback.

Their long-term plan heading into 2024 and through eight weeks is Garnder Minshew and Aidan O’Connell. Minshew is now a career-long patchover quarterback, the guy a general manager calls when he needs a rookie to watch and learn for a month or so. Minshew is the bridge. And O’Connell, well, he was a 7th-Rounder, and those should never be trusted with the “franchise quarterback” title.

Because Las Vegas is the sole pro team without a plan for the future at QB1, it must draft a passer in the 1st Round six months from now. Time is up on the Minshew-O’Connell era.

The Current QBs Stink

What’s more, Minshew and O’Connell are not productive. By NFL standards, compared to their peers, the twosome is flatly not good. These are the numbers:

Raiders Quarterbacks,
per EPA+CPOE,
NFL Ranking,
as of October 27th, 2024:

Gardner Minshew = 29th of 39 Qualifying QBs
Aidan O’Connell = 31st of 39 Qualifying QBs

No wonder Davante Adams wanted the hell out.

The Draft Board Is Lining Up

The good news? This request is feasible. If the NFL Draft occurred tomorrow, the Raiders would choose seventh, also known as prime territory for a franchise quarterback, or trade up the board for the best prospect available.

These men are in line to encounter a 1st-Round draft stock or at least sniff it:

• Shedeur Sanders (Colorado)
• Cam Ward (Miami)
• Quinn Ewers (Texas)
• Jalen Milroe (Alabama)
• Carson Beck (Georgia)

Of course, those names will intensely fluctuate between now and April, but general manager Tom Telesco will be positioned to find their QB1.

It’s time. JaMarcus Russell was the last 1st-Round quarterback for Las Vegas — 15 years ago.

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Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the Minnesota Vikings, with 4-7 episodes per week. His NFL obsession dates back to 1989. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL. 

All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.