Raiders reportedly make Aidan O’Connell starting QB after firing Josh McDaniels

Last updated: 2023/11/01 at 4:46 PM

BigP Published November 1, 2023

There are still more changes being made in Las Vegas even after the Raiders fired head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler Tuesday night.

Aidan O’Connell is expected to be the Raiders’ starting quarterback moving forward over Jimmy Garoppolo, NFL Media reported Wednesday morning.

The Raiders’ decision to make O’Connell their starting quarterback not only comes on the heels of the team dismissing its two lead decision-makers, but it also comes after one of the worst outings of Garoppolo’s career. He completed just 10 of 21 passes for 126 yards with an interception and was sacked six times in the Raiders’ 23-14 loss to the Lions on Monday as he made his return from a back injury.

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Garoppolo has struggled in his first season with Las Vegas after he signed a three-year, $72.75 million contract during the offseason. He has completed 65.5% of his passes for 1,205 yards, seven touchdowns and nine interceptions, which leads the league even though he has missed two starts and had to leave another game early.

The Raiders have gone 3-3 in Garoppolo’s six starts this season, but they lost all three games he played against teams that currently have a record above .500. They also failed to score more than 18 points in the five games that Garoppolo started and finished.

O’Connell will make his second start of the season when the Raiders take on the 2-6 Giants. The fourth-round rookie out of Purdue filled in for Garoppolo when Las Vegas took on the Chargers in Week 4. O’Connell completed 24 of 39 passes for 238 yards with an interception in that game, with his turnover coming on a goal-line pass as the Raiders tried to tie the game in the final minutes before losing 24-17.

The Raiders opted to start Brian Hoyer over O’Connell when Garoppolo was out with a back injury in Week 7 against the Bears. But O’Connell replaced Hoyer in the fourth quarter after the veteran QB threw his second interception of the day, which was a pick-six. O’Connell completed 10 of 13 passes for 75 yards with a touchdown and an interception in mop-up duty as the Raiders fell 30-12.

Sunday’s game against the Giants will also mark Antonio Pierce’s first as the Raiders’ interim coach. Pierce joined McDaniels’ staff as linebackers coach last season and, in his head coaching debut, Pierce will face the team for which he played five NFL seasons.

The Raiders also dismissed offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi and will replace him with quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree for the rest of the season, NFL Media reported.