Gardner Minshew II, Aidan O’Connell each have ups and downs in Raiders’ QB competition

The Las Vegas Raiders expressed a desire to pick a starting quarterback after their second preseason game. If they stick to that, they might be making a decision without a definitive answer.

Gardner Minshew II and Aidan O’Connell are battling for the spot and neither has made the choice obvious based on their preseason play. O’Connell outplayed Minshew on Saturday night, but just when it seemed he might be the winning the job he threw a bad pick-6 early in the fourth quarter. That might set the Raiders’ coaches back to square one. We’ll see.

O’Connell got the start in last week’s preseason opener, and Minshew got the start on Saturday against the Dallas Cowboys. It was a chance for Minshew to shine with the Cowboys not playing any starters on defense. Minshew failed to impress.

Minshew had an uneven performance. He was 10 of 21 for 95 yards in a little more than a quarter of work. His night started ominously. Minshew’s first drive almost ended with a fourth-down interception. He never seemed to see the underneath defender, though the pass was dropped.

The second series started better, with Minshew airing it out to Tre Tucker for a 48-yard gain. But the drive stalled there, in part because Minshew hesitated on third down and threw wildly and incomplete.

On the next possession Minshew had a solid throw on third down to tight end Michael Mayer and hit Tucker later in the drive on another third down. Then on third-and-11 he threw one up for grabs to a well-defended receiver and was lucky it was knocked incomplete.

Minshew played into the second quarter, getting a fourth possession. There was a shot at a big play but a miscommunication with Tucker, when the receiver turned in but the pass went to his outside shoulder, led to an incompletion. Then Minshew’s pass on third down was broken up and the Raiders punted. The good news for Minshew was the Cowboys fumbled the punt and the Raiders got it right back. That drive didn’t go anywhere either. A third-and-6 screen pass bounced incomplete when Minshew threw it into traffic. The Raiders went for it on fourth down, likely as a test for Minshew, and his pass was too high for another incompletion.

In last week’s opener, Minshew probably outplayed O’Connell, though O’Connell had some positive plays too. Minshew was unimpressive in his opportunity on Saturday night, making Las Vegas‘ decision much tougher.

O’Connell came in after Minshew couldn’t turn great field position into more than a field goal. His first pass was a strong, accurate pass over the middle to Kristian Wilkerson for 14 yards. But that drive stalled too after a holding penalty on first down, and the Raiders kicked another field goal.

The Cowboys chewed up a lot of clock after that, which put the Raiders in the two-minute drill at the end of the first half. O’Connell had a chance to impress then, but he threw three straight incompletions. His first pass wasn’t bad but went through Wilkerson’s hands and he was under a lot of pressure on third down.

O’Connell led a good drive to start the second half. He hit DJ Turner for a first down on fourth-and-2. Then he hit Harrison Bryant on a play-action pass for a 5-yard touchdown, though he threw incomplete on the two-point conversion. Perhaps that drive will be enough to get O’Connell the starting job. It was the first positive series the Raiders offense had all night.

O’Connell was leading another positive drive when he made a crushing mistake. He threw an interception right to Cowboys cornerback Kemon Hall that was returned 69 yards for a touchdown. That was O’Connell’s last play of the night and will stick with the Raiders’ coaching staff as they make a decision. O’Connell finished 14 of 20 for 96 yards.

Minshew was probably the better quarterback in the first preseason game. O’Connell was better in the second, though his interception marred an otherwise solid night. Now we see if the Raiders really are ready to name a starter for the regular season.