Impact Pierce added during Sunday morning's press conference that experience was ultimately the deciding factor, stating that the team "feels like [Minshew] gives us the best opportunity to get off to a fast start," according to Tashan Reed and Vic Tafur of The Athletic. O'Connell has more experience with the Raiders, starting 10 games with a 5-5 record and a 12:7 TD:INT ratio during his 2023 rookie season. But, that falls short of the 37 career starts for Minshew, who was also named to his first career Pro Bowl with the Colts last year. It was cearly still a tight race for the job this preseason. O'Connell performed relatively well while coming in off the bench in the first two exhibitions, completing 21 of 29 combined passing attempts for 176 yards and one touchdown an one interception. It's also not out of the question that O'Connell could still have a chance to start this season if Minshew and the Raiders' offense strulgge throughout the campaign. Therefore, it will be worth monitoring how the team perfoms in the regular-season opener versus the Chargers on Sept. 8.
AUGUST 18, 2024 • ROTOWIRE
