Las Vegas Raiders name Gardner Minshew as starting quarterback over Aidan O’Connell

Minshew Mania is back for 2024, with the Las Vegas Raiders naming Gardner Minshew II as their starting quarterback for the upcoming season. Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce announced Sunday that Minshew won the starting job over second-year QB Aidan O’Connell.

Minshew signed a two-year deal with the Raiders in March. The 28-year-old quarterback started one of two preseason games for the Raiders, throwing for 117 yards and a touchdown in the 24-23 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. O’Connell, meanwhile, led the Raiders to a 27-12 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday, throwing a touchdown and an interception.

“Myself, [general manager Tom] Telesco and [offensive coordinator] Luke Getsy discussed it this morning,” Pierce said, per the Raiders. “A lot of things went into it. It wasn’t based off of last night. There’s a lot of factors. We feel like Gardner gives us the best opportunity to get off to a fast start.”

Minshew rose to prominence in 2019, when he started 12 games during his rookie year with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He threw for 21 touchdowns that season, breaking a rookie franchise record. Minshew played in Jacksonville for two seasons, before spending two with the Philadelphia Eagles.

The mustachioed play-caller spent last season with the Indianapolis Colts, starting 13 games and playing in 17. He threw for a career-high 3,305 yards and 15 touchdowns with a 62.2% completion percentage; however, he was also sacked 34 times and threw nine interceptions.

O’Connell, meanwhile, will return to being the Raiders’ backup. The 25-year-old started last season as QB2, but took over partway through the year after Jimmy Garoppolo was injured. He started 10 games in total during that rookie season.