One of the biggest reasons the Raiders decided to bench Jimmy Garoppolo in favor of Aidan O’Connell was to get a jumpstart on his evaluation process. The Raiders needed to know sooner rather than later if O’Connell could be the long-term solution.
While five games remain during the 2023 season, it’s pretty clear that O’Connell isn’t a franchise-elevating quarterback. And that’s fine. He was drafted in the fourth round to be a developmental quarterback and he has performed at expectation. He still projects as a high-end backup in the NFL who might be able to develop into a low-level starter.
But what the Raiders need is a quarterback who can go toe-to-toe with Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, and C.J. Stroud in the AFC. And unfortunately, O’Connell isn’t that guy.
So will the Raiders take a quarterback in Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft? Right now, that still seems unlikely, according to Paul Gutierrez of ESPN:
A late-season collapse could mean a total rebuild and might see the Raiders trading up to go all-in for the likes of Caleb Williams, Drake Maye or even Jayden Daniels (who has an Arizona State connection with interim coach Antonio Pierce).
But today, sitting at 5-7 with hopes of a late run, I’d say there’s a 49% chance — a notch below 50-50 — of the Raiders using a first-round pick on a QB for only the fourth time since the 1970 merger (Russell in 2007, Todd Marinovich in 1991 and Marc Wilson in 1980).
The 2024 draft is loaded with quarterback talent in Round 1 and it would be a mistake for the Raiders to pass on one. But there are still several months to go before the draft. How O’Connell performs over the next month may give us a really good idea of where the Raiders will go in Round 1 of next year’s draft.