With free agency a month away, it’s time to check in on the Raiders’ quarterback position to give it a condition of either Strong, Stable, Unstable, Serious, or Critical.
Starter: Aidan O’Connell
Backups: Gardner Minshew, Carter Bradley
Free agents: Desmond Ridder (RFA)
A rough training camp gave way to a ‘lesser of the evils’ situation with Gardner Minshew getting the nod as the starter. Four games in and the Raiders were already ready to make a change. They switched to Aidan O’Connell only to have him get injured, leading to the return of Minshew. Then Minshew got hurt and O’Connell returned as the starter the rest of the way. The result of all this was each QB finishing with two wins and neither looking like worthy starters.
Condition: Critical
Minshew is a prime cut candidate and O’Connell’s lack of mobility is a major concern.
This team needs a franchise quarterback in the worst way. After finally pulling the ripcord on the Derek Carr era, they have fiddled around with several different starters, none of whom are the long term answer. The result was two lost seasons and in the same position they were in before. Getting a QB this offseason is priority number one by a wide margin.