One of the players that we should see a lot of during the preseason is rookie QB Aidan O’Connell. The fourth-round pick from Purdue will likely get a lot of playing time as Jimmy Garoppolo and Brian Hoyer are the clear 1-2 for the Raiders.
The good news is that O’Connell has looked fantastic during training camp and deserves an extended look in the preseason. In a recent article by Albert Breer of SI.com, he wrote about some of his top nuggets from training camp. That included a note on O’Connell, who has had a strong offseason with the Raiders.
Here is a snippet of what Breer had to say about O’Connell after spending a few days at the Raiders’ camp:
And while we’re here, rookie Aidan O’Connell has turned a lot of heads early in camp, and that hype is real. It’s not hard to see he can really throw it, and he’s impressing everyone in the building with maturity, his ability to handle things at the line of scrimmage, and his accuracy.
O’Connell was one of the most accurate quarterbacks in the 2023 NFL draft, but his lack of mobility caused him to fall to Day 3. But his accuracy and anticipation are what allowed him to be so successful in the Big Ten.
Is there a chance that O’Connell could eventually be the starting quarterback for the Raiders? Maybe, but he needs to continue the positive momentum of the offseason and turn it into strong performances in the preseason.
If that happens, we can start having the conversation about O’Connell as a potential starter down the road for the Raiders. But as of now, he is a really exciting Day 3 prospect that should get a ton of run during the preseason.
