The Las Vegas Raiders season has taken a major turn. Head coach Josh McDaniels was fired in the wee hours of the morning along with the general manager. The team could also look very different on the field in week 9. Las Vegas is “leaning towards” benching Jimmy Garoppolo in favor of rookie Aidan O’Connell.
Las Vegas Raiders Benching Jimmy Garoppolo For Aidan O’Connell?
According to Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the team is “leaning toward” starting the fourth-round rookie out of Purdue. This would be O’Connell’s second career start as he took the field in week 4 in a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. The last time that McDaniels decided on a quarterback change, Brian Hoyer was given the opportunity but now it seems like the new regime wants to see the rookie play. This makes complete sense as the team moves into a new era.
See What You Have
There is no purpose in playing Hoyer. He is in his upper 30s and in the twilight of his career. The team now needs to see if O’Connell can be a quarterback of the future. If he can, the team can look elsewhere with their likely high draft pick. Evaluating who is a part of the future and who is not is now the number one priority on the field. If games are won, great! No one will complain about wins. If games are lost, the team has to learn things about the talent that they have. If not, they will likely not rebound from this anytime soon.
The Las Vegas Raiders will try again with a new head coach. Their track record hasn’t been good but one thing was clear. It was time to move on from Josh McDaniels.