ESPN Projects Gardner Minshew to Start For Raiders

With the 2024 NFL season getting closer everyday, and training camps being just a couple of weeks away now, it's time to really start evaluating each team's roster.

ESPN did just that, in a recent article. In that article, they discussed a couple topics regarding each team's roster ahead of this season, and also did a projected depth chart, of who they think will be starting.

In that depth chart, they selected Gardner Minshew to start at quarterback, over Aidan O'Connell.

© Trevor Ruszkowski | 2023 Dec 31

The Las Vegas Raiders' quarterback battle has been the talk of the offseason, and it's arguably the most important positional battle on the team. It's interesting that Minshew was given the nod here, as recent reports have seemed to favor O'Connell, with it being reported that Davante Adams 'loves' him, and the fact that Antonio Pierce has spoken out in his support as well.

ESPN also happened to mention the quarterback position as a whole in the 'biggest weakness' portion of their report, so their decision here might not speak out that much in Minshew's favor.

Overall, they call the Raiders' position the 'most underwhelming in the league', and claim that while both were solid at times in 2023, there just isn't a lot to be excited about with either of them.

At the end of the day, the Raiders just need one of these players to perform like a starter, and it's reasonable to expect that Minshew is more capable of doing that.

While O'Connell had his bright spots in a challenging rookie season, Minshew was extremely close to leading the Indianapolis Colts to the playoffs in 2023.