One of the biggest surprises in Week 1 of the preseason was the play of Raiders QB Aidan O’Connell. Getting the start at quarterback, O’Connell played lights out, leading the Raiders on multiple touchdown drives.
O’Connell only had one bad throw out of 18 as he looked confident and poised under center for Las Vegas. But can he do it again this week against the Rams?
In a recent article by Eric Edholm of NFL.com, he wrote about the one player from every team that he is excited to watch this weekend. His watchlist included O’Connell, who could be challenging Brian Hoyer for the No. 2 job:
The fifth-round pick has mostly run third in the practice pecking order this summer, but he earned the start last week against the 49ers and made the most of his opportunity, going 15-of-18 passing for 141 yards and a TD while playing with the second-team offense.
Hoyer is the vet and might still have the lead, but O’Connell could make this far more interesting if he backs up that performance with another big outing against the Rams this weekend.
The key to the preseason is consistency. You want to see a player be consistent from practice to practice and from game to game. Every year, we see a player flash early and then completely disappear the following week.
Hopefully, that isn’t the case for O’Connell as he looking to string together several strong performances in the preseason. He’ll likely get to play even more in Week 2 of the preseason as the Raiders continue to sort out the No. 2 job behind Jimmy Garoppolo.
