A Forgotten but Still Valuable Piece of the Raiders' Roster

Also, O'Connell likely would have looked better had he played his first two seasons in the league with a better roster and coaching staff like the Raiders now have.

Following Organized Team Activities, Raiders Offensive Coordinator Chip Kelly explained how he believes the arrival of veteran quarterback Geno Smith can help everyone on the team, including O'Connell.

Kelly noted that Smith knows what it is like to spend time as a starting quarterback and a backup quarterback. Smith's time as a backup helped him develop into a true starting quarterback, which is a similar trajectory O'Connell likely hopes to be on himself.

"Pete [Carroll] brought [Smith] in as a backup; Russell [Wilson] was there. And then, all of a sudden, earning the starting job, Russell gets traded, and now Geno gets to show what he can do. There's not a lot of guys that would have shown that resiliency. There's not a lot of guys that would have persevered through all of that. But I think you can look at him as a younger player, or you could look at him as an older coach and admire the journey that he's been on," Kelly said.

"Because it's hard to talk the talk if you have never walked the walk, and Geno has been in all those shoes, and I think that's one thing that really he can be - he's so relatable to everybody in this program because he's kind of lived that life. He's been a high draft pick, but he's also been a guy that has been told that a team doesn't want him. And so, I think until you actually go through that situation, it's hard to kind of fathom. But the fact that he's done it and come out and to be the way he is now is really a testament to him. He's special, and we're really, really excited that we have him."

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