Raiders quarterback change should remain in place for Chiefs game in Week 8

The Las Vegas Raiders have announced a major change.

That sentence, in and of itself, is nothing new—a bit of irony from a team known for making one major change after another in the hopes of righting a ship that's been wrong for so many years. From hires and fires to trades and signings, the Raiders have taken major swings and minor steps. Under Mark Davis's leadership, nothing has worked.

The latest change comes at the quarterback position—surprise!—where one uninspired option in Gardner Minshew has now been benched for another uninspired option in Aidan O'Connell. Through five games, the Raiders are 2-3 and have apparently had their fill of any Minshew Mania remaining in Sin City.

The Las Vegas Raiders are trying anything to stave off any further distress for the 2024 season.

The shift to O'Connell is a meaningful one at this point for the Chiefs, because it likely signals who they are going to be facing when the two teams clash for the first time in a few weeks.

The Raiders made the switch after giving Minshew a leash of five games to help save their season. Making a new move means O'Connell himself is likely to get a bit of a runway to see what he can do. After all, it wouldn't be fair to make a big announcement about such a change only to pull him after a single game. That's doubly-true considering his first game is coming against the smothering defense of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

If O'Connell is going to get a stretch of games to show what he can do in his sophomore season for the Raiders, then he's likely going to be QB1 when they host the visiting Kansas City Chiefs in Week 8 at Allegiant Stadium.

The reason O'Connell makes sense for the Chiefs game is that the Raiders get their bye after that AFC West showdown. The Week 9 bye gives Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce some ideally-timed space to evaluate his options at quarterback as well to take stock of a season that's either gotten better or fallen off completely.

As for O'Connell, he was 5-5 last season as a starter for the Raiders, including a 20-14 victory at Arrowhead against the Chiefs. Not that O'Connell had much to do with that victory having 9 of 21 passes for only 62 yards and 0 touchdowns. (Don't forget the Raiders had 2 defensive scores that game.)

On the year, O'Connell finished with 213 completions on 343 passing attempts for 2,218 yards and 12 touchdowns against 7 interceptions. Given the lack of talent and experience, it wasn't the worst tryout as a fourth-round rookie out of Purdue, so it makes sense why Pierce would want to see how he processes the game with a year under his belt.

Then again, it's disheartening that Minshew beat him out to begin with, because O'Connell certainly didn't look the part in the preseason.

Maybe O'Connell is ready to roll with this opportunity like never before. Maybe he'll surprise even the Steelers in Week 6 and prove he's capable of elevating his team. Maybe he even shows up with another shocking result for the Kansas City Chiefs. There's only one way to find out, but at least the Chiefs now know who they're preparing for.