Raiders' Aidan O'Connell to Take 1st Snap in Camp amid QB Battle with Gardner Minshew

Aidan O'Connell has an early leg up in the Las Vegas Raiders' quarterback competition.

"Aidan's earned the right to go out there and earn the first snap," Raiders coach Antonio Pierce told reporters Friday. "What he's done this offseason—changing his body, his work ethic, being here every day, blocking out the outside noise. He's not worried about anything. I'm excited.

"Then you bring Gardner in here ... talk about personality. ... It's great. It's great for our building. It's great for our quarterback room. And if you got competition in the quarterback room, what does every other room look at?"

O'Connell threw for 2,218 yards and 12 touchdowns against seven interceptions in his rookie season. The Raiders were 5-5 in O'Connell's 10 starts, including a 3-1 mark in their final four games.

That hot end to the season likely won Pierce the permanent coaching job after he took over on an interim basis for Josh McDaniels. However, it also pushed Las Vegas out of the franchise quarterback equation for the 2024 draft. The Raiders watched as six teams took quarterbacks in the first 12 selections before they nabbed Georgia tight end Brock Bowers at No. 13 overall.

Pierce was a known fan of Jayden Daniels, who he coached at Arizona State, but the Raiders were unable to trade up for the LSU product. Daniels went No. 2 overall to the Washington Commanders.

Minshew signed a two-year, $25 million contract this offseason in what amounted to an insurance plan singing at quarterback. The veteran journeyman is on his fourth team in six NFL seasons, having previously spent time with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Philadelphia Eagles and Indianapolis Colts.

"What I see is guys getting out there early," Pierce said. "Aidan is already kind of taking the bull by the horn and he's leading the way, and Minshew's right there doing it as well. Two guys that played against each other last year, they went neck to neck. But I'm really excited to see what happens. I think it's going to be a process. We're going to stick to the process."

Minshew threw for 3,305 yards and 15 yards against nine interceptions last season in Indianapolis.