Potential Change: Raiders Ready to Swap Out Minshew, O’Connel for More Productive QB
The Las Vegas Raiders haven’t had legitimate hope under center since the Derek Carr era began to wind down in 2022, but the upcoming NFL draft can offer the fan base the optimism it has been missing for going on three seasons.
The precise form that hope might take is uncertain and will depend on where the Raiders select in the proceedings and which quarterbacks are available when they do. Were the league to hold the draft tomorrow, the Raiders would pick No. 2 overall behind the New York Giants, and both teams will likely be in the market for a new signal caller.
Shedeur Sanders of Colorado and Cam Ward of Miami appear to have separated themselves as the top two QB candidates on the majority of draft boards, which means one of them is likely headed to the desert — as long as the Raiders don’t go on a winning streak and drop significantly in the draft.
Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report on Nov. 27 predicted that it will ultimately be Ward who lands with the Raiders as the team’s answer to the mediocre duo of Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell.
“The B/R Scouting Department’s highest-rated QB prospect [Ward] has 34 touchdown passes in 11 games this season for Miami,” Gagnon wrote. “This could just as easily be Sanders in Las Vegas and Ward with the Giants. Regardless, both teams are positioned to control the early quarterback board with their current … records, and I don’t believe either will pass on a signal-caller.”
Ward is among the candidates to win college football’s prestigious Heisman Trophy, as he is on his way to producing one of the more prolific seasons in recent memory. The quarterback entered the team’s game against Syracuse on Saturday with 3,774 yards passing, 34 touchdowns and 7 interceptions on the way to the Hurricanes amassing a 10-1 record.
Ward had thrown for 349 yards (surpassing 4,000 yards on the year) and 2 scores late into the fourth quarter against Syracuse, his team trailing 42-38 and looking to the defense to regain possession and give the QB a chance for yet more late-game heroics in what will be his final season of collegiate football.
