Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell suffered a fractured right wrist during the team’s preseason finale against the Cardinals on Saturday, as head coach Pete Carroll told reporters after the game (including Tashan Reed of The Athletic). Carroll announced O’Connell would need surgery and would be out for six to eight weeks, thus making him an obvious candidate for injured reserve.
This offseason, the Raiders acquired Geno Smith via trade with the Seahawks, and he will serve as the starting QB. O’Connell, a fourth-round pick in 2023, cropped up in trade rumors prior to this year’s draft, but Las Vegas did not select a passer until adding North Dakota State’s Cam Miller in the sixth round. As such, O’Connell was retained and was in line to serve as Smith’s backup.
O’Connell, who will turn 27 next week, lost last summer’s QB1 competition to Gardner Minshew, though he still ended up starting seven games over the course of the 2024 season. After a somewhat encouraging 5-5 record in his rookie campaign in 2023, O’Connell went just 2-5 as a starter last year.
His career numbers are respectable enough for a backup passer: 20 TDs against 11 interceptions, a 62.6% completion percentage, and an 85.1 QB rating. However, he was not especially sharp during this year’s preseason schedule; over the first two games, he completed 33 of 53 passes for just 343 yards (6.5 yards per attempt) for one touchdown and three interceptions.
He started Saturday’s contest by completing three of his first four passes for 36 yards, but he also lost a fumble, his fourth turnover of the preseason. As ESPN’s Ryan McFadden observes, O’Connell also struggled in training camp practices, and Carroll acknowledged the offense did not move as quickly with O’Connell at the controls.
Miller finished the Arizona game by completing 12 of 24 passes for 124 yards. The Raiders likely do not want to have a developmental rookie working as Smith’s backup, so the team may well look to add a quarterback in short order.
Carson Wentz, who just visited the Vikings on Saturday, is the biggest name on the free agent market as of the time of this writing. With teams needing to trim their rosters to 53 players by Tuesday, more QBs will become available, by trade or otherwise.