Aidan O’Connell ready for promotion as Raiders’ starting QB،
HENDERSON, Nev. – More than a few eyebrows were raised when quarterback Aidan O’Connell, a fourth-round draft pick last April, showed up for his first day with the Las Vegas Raiders wearing an ornate jersey of number 4. .
After all, that’s the number carried for nine years by the franchise’s all-time leading passer, the polarizing Derek Carr, who now plays for the New Orleans Saints after a rough exit from Las Vegas.
“Yeah, that’s the number I was given,” O’Connell, who wore No. 16 at Purdue, said during training camp. “I really don’t care what number I play with. I’ll play with any number. So I don’t worry too much about that.”
So forgive Raiders fans if they experience a sense of déjà vu on Sunday, when O’Connell makes his first career regular-season start at Allegiant Stadium against the New York Giants (4:25 p.m. ET, Fox).
Indeed, it’s a new start for the Raiders, who fired general manager Dave Ziegler, coach Josh McDaniels and offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi as well as starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo this week. They replaced them with interims Champ Kelly, Antonio Pierce and Bo Hardegree, respectively, and inserted O’Connell as the starting quarterback.
That Hardegree, who has only called NFL exhibition games, and O’Connell, who started the Raiders’ Week 4 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, embark on their respective futures together , is, as Hardegree said, “exciting.”
After all, Hardegree, who will call plays from the field, was the Raiders’ quarterback coach before this week’s promotion.
“He’s the coach I’ve spent the most time with here,” O’Connell said. “He obviously runs our position meetings and then I’m around him a lot more. He’s been great for me since I got here in OTAs and rookie minicamp. He’s been very helpful in coaching me, learning, correcting myself, all the things I needed. So, I’m super excited for him too and for this opportunity.
Hardegree, meanwhile, played quarterback at the University of Tennessee from 2004 to 2007 and has since coached at Duke and LSU before joining the NFL with the Denver Broncos, Chicago Bears, Miami Dolphins, the New York Jets and the New England Patriots before coming to Las Vegas. with McDaniels last season.
So the challenge is fine-tuning an offense that is No. 31 in the NFL in total yards and 30th in points scored per game. Especially by a player who has yet to call a play in a regular season game for a rookie quarterback with two career appearances.
“Changes [to the playbook] it would be a difficult thing; it’s a short time,” Hardegree said. “The important thing is our players, and we just have to execute better, and I have to give them the ability to do that. … I have confidence in all these guys and I have to put them in a good situation. And I really believe it’s all about execution, and the answer is sitting in those chairs over there.”
Hardegree, 39, was referring to Raiders players in general, and O’Connell in particular.
O’Connell started when Garoppolo was out with a concussion and replaced Brian Hoyer in the Week 7 loss to the Bears when Garoppolo was sidelined with a back injury, completing 65.4% of his passes (34 of 52) for 313 yards, one touchdown pass and two interceptions. He has a passer rating of 72.0, a total QBR of 7.6, and has also been sacked seven times and lost two of three fumbles.
“I think experience is extremely valuable,” O’Connell said. “I think the game reps are priceless and I’ve definitely learned a lot and I’ve got to take what I’ve learned and try to apply it in practice. And, again, that’s is also now a different challenge and a different team that we’re playing against. … So at the same time, you can think about it, but you have to take the challenge as it presents itself.”
He has the support of his teammates.
“Aidan is definitely a very consistent guy,” said All-Pro receiver Davante Adams, who was targeted 13 times and caught eight passes for 75 yards from O’Connell. “You watch it when we watch the tape – we watch it from the end zone copy – whether Jimmy or Brian is there, literally, simultaneously, he does [it]. Whether they’re passing the ball or faking it and getting into the play or whatever, you see him working on his craft and always ready to take his opportunity.
So having that type of mentality as a young man, he could obviously sit back, but the way he works on his body, all the things like that, it’s a lot more mature than what I have seen from the start. Quarterback of a year. … So, that’s a recipe for success.
Adams also supported Hardegree as a playcaller.
“I don’t see us reinventing our offense,” Adams said after a one-catch game in Detroit.
“I see us maybe expanding our playbook a little more and tweaking a few things based on what we see on tape. But for the most part, I like what we have in [the playbook] right now, and I can support Bo any day. He’s a good, smart football mind, and obviously being coached by Josh, you’re going to learn a lot of things and be able to understand how to set up the game. So, I’m looking forward to that for him. »
The feelings are mutual. It doesn’t matter what number O’Connell wears these days. Because as he said at camp, the fact that he wore number 4 had nothing to do with superstition, or that the number was the square root of his college number 16.
“No, none of that,” he laughed at the time. “I’m not very good at math.”
The Raiders’ interim regime is counting on him to be better at football.
