Aidan O'Connell: The Man, The Myth, The Legend

[Anteaters]

Lots of training camp hype out about this rookie. Is he McDaniels' version mentor Belichick's later round picks of Brady (legend), Garoppolo (myth), and Mac/Cassell/Brissett (man)? Or will O'Connell turn out to be a flop like Mallett/Stidham/Kingsbury?

There are rumblings in the Raiders' press corps that O'Connell is going to be given a real chance to start by design, either later in a lost season this year, or in 2024 by design. Raiders receivers are raving about him -- might just be training camp hype, but maybe there's something really there.

Any Purdue diehards who have seen this guy play a lot of real games? Thoughts?

[Bronco Billy]

Watch him against the good Ds he went against - MIN, WI, Iowa, and MICH. He just doesn’t seem to see D players who are immediately in the vicinity and in a position to step in front of his passes and he puts way too much trust in what is not a particularly special arm. Fundamentals are solid but there’s no “it” there. Good completion percentage but pretty low ypa. He’s not a QB who scares anyone downfield.

I don’t see him as anything more than a “break glass in the event of emergency” QB in the NFL.

[Paul717]

I'm old enough to remember when QBs needed at least this much college experience to be on anyone's draft board. E.G. the "Bill Parcells" rule for drafting QBs.

I don't know about "Legend", but it definitely makes for a fun thread title! And this thread I think will make me consider moving O'Connell up on my draft board. (I have him WAY too low, it seems. Like, embarrassingly low). He could be a guy, let's say that.

[ericanadian]

Mac was a first round pick and Jimmy G a 2nd, so not exactly late round picks. You also forgot Hoyer, who has been serviceable in spot start duty for years.

For me, a main component of QB success is early stability in offensive system. O’Connell’s success will likely hinge largely on how patient the team is with McDaniels. Davis was clearly expecting more from him in year one. He probably needs another three for O’Connell to have a chance. Not a bet I want to make at this point, but its possible.

[Anteaters]

Mac was a first round pick and Jimmy G a 2nd, so not exactly late round picks. You also forgot Hoyer, who has been serviceable in spot start duty for years.

For me, a main component of QB success is early stability in offensive system. O’Connell’s success will likely hinge largely on how patient the team is with McDaniels. Davis was clearly expecting more from him in year one. He probably needs another three for O’Connell to have a chance. Not a bet I want to make at this point, but its possible.

Thanks for the correction. I had a feeling at least one of those guys was earlier than "late" but was too lazy to check it.

[Ruggenater]

Mac was a first round pick and Jimmy G a 2nd, so not exactly late round picks. You also forgot Hoyer, who has been serviceable in spot start duty for years.

For me, a main component of QB success is early stability in offensive system. O’Connell’s success will likely hinge largely on how patient the team is with McDaniels. Davis was clearly expecting more from him in year one. He probably needs another three for O’Connell to have a chance. Not a bet I want to make at this point, but its possible.

Thanks for the correction. I had a feeling at least one of those guys was earlier than "late" but was too lazy to check it.

Jacoby Brissett was a 3rd round pick as well. Later than your typical starter, but not Brady/Cassel late.

[Anteaters]

Preseason game 1 against San Francisco 49ers #1 ranked DEF.
The Legend started and went 15/18 for 141yds, 1TD, 0 int and a blazing hot QB rating. Okay, I haven't seen the official QBR yet, but it has to be obscenely high, right?

What's the over/under as to when AO'C starts his first regular season game? Week 4? Week 8? Week 12?

Get on board the AO'C train now. Seats are still available and he's actually still available in some SF leagues which is, like, totally whacko.

[mild]

Preseason game 1 against San Francisco 49ers #1 ranked DEF.

Yikes.

Agreed he looked nice, though.

[frerichs5]

What kind of FAAB % would you spend on him in 12 team SF leagues? 28 man roster, so waivers are usually pretty thin.

[murphysxm]

a whole $1

[Anteaters]

What kind of FAAB % would you spend on him in 12 team SF leagues? 28 man roster, so waivers are usually pretty thin.

I wouldn't spend much, but the best part is I don't think you have to spend much if you can get him at this point. He should be almost free.

What I like most about him is he is almost guaranteed to be given a couple of starts. I think the last time Jimmy G played a full season was during the Bush administration. Okay, it was 2019 but who's counting ... and that was the only time as a pro he played 16 games. When Jimmy goes down, McDaniels will immediately turn to AO'C to see what he has. At that point, it will be up to AO'C to put up another QBR 117 and claim the starting job Purdy-like ... or trash all his opportunity like Lance.

For now, I'm betting Mr Mustache stakes his claim to the job like a true pro.

[Plank]

I want to see him be able to throw deep to keep people honest like Bronco mentioned ..

If he can't get the ball downfield and get chunk plays, defenses will start playing up, and we've seen how that story ends quite often.

[Anteaters]

I want to see him be able to throw deep to keep people honest like Bronco mentioned ..

If he can't get the ball downfield and get chunk plays, defenses will start playing up, and we've seen how that story ends quite often.

He's done it in camp, but that's not the same as doing it in a game.

Maybe we'll find out this week if he can push it downfield a bit more. He should be the starter again, because Jimmy isn't ready and why start Hoyer. It will be fun to see what AO'C can do for an encore. After playing the entire 1st half in week one, and getting the start in week 2, he'll probably start in week 3 as well. That's a lot of game time action for the rookie to get acclimated to NFL speed before the regular season starts. Probably more than any other rookie QB will get this preseason. I don't think any of the big 3 played the entire 1st half in week 1.

[killer_of_giants]

if the raiders offense is as putrid as it was last year, he's better off sitting the whole season.

[Anteaters]

if the raiders offense is as putrid as it was last year, he's better off sitting the whole season.

Yeah, it was bad last year. I put a lot of that on McDaniels' inability to be flexible with his QB. Carr simply did not fit what McDaniels wanted to do at the QB position. Instead of altering his system to fit his talent, McDaniels seemed to go out of his way to alienate Carr. In the end, it didn't matter all that much because the Raiders were not going to be a deep run playoff team anyway.

Also, I think McDaniels (not Carr as I originally posted) used that situation to demonstrate to the other players that it's his way or the highway. Not to mention I think McDaniels had made up his mind early on (perhaps before even the first week) that Carr was not his type of QB and he was going to reset at the position once he could get out from under Carr's contract at the end of the season.

AO'C is not going to be as set in his ways as Carr was. AO'C is going to be a coach's pet who runs around like a puppy trying to do his best to please his commander. A 33 year old QB who played for one team his whole career was never going to be the kind of guy who fundamental things about his playing style to fit a HC who was a proven loser in his previous HC job.

It's way too early to predict what's going to happen to Aidan, but I see a glimmer of hope and more than a glimmer of opportunity to prove his worth. He's one a team not expected to make the playoffs, competing against a guy everyone knows cannot stay healthy and a 38-year old career backup. For a 4th round QB, that's about the most anyone can hope for heading into his first season. Aidan is old enough to be mature enough to realize he has to be a coach pleaser to get a true shot. And Aidan has experience coming in with low expectations and outworking/outstudying everyone else to win the starter's job. He'll get his shot. It's just a matter of if he's actually good enough to claim it.