Earlier in the offseason, Coach Antonio Pierce and the Las Vegas Raiders announced that the current starting quarterback, Aidan O'Connell, would spend this offseason in a battle for the position of starting quarterback for next season. This isn't uncommon in the National Football League. What is unusual, though, is how fair the Raiders have been so far throughout the process.
After being unexpectedly thrown into the starting position midway through this past season while also starting his first game under a new head coach and new offensive coordinator, O'Connell performed about as well as a rookie quarterback, under those circumstances, could have reasonably been expected to perform.
During his nine games as the starting quarterback, it was more valuable to O'Connell and the Raiders' future to let the rest of the season play out with O'Connell as the starting quarterback. It allowed them to see the rookie quarterback's potential.
O'Connell went 5-4 after being named the team's starting quarterback this season. While O'Connell showed poise during those nine games, his youth and inexperience sometimes showed.
Through his ups and downs, there were arguably more ups than downs. Either way, the Raiders and Coach Pierce, specifically, were always firm but fair. They were honest when he played well and when he didn't.
They publicly supported O'Connell, which the previous coaching staff did not do. After O'Connell's very first start of his career, weeks before taking over full-time as the starter, the rookie quarterback played like a rookie and was thrown under the bus like a veteran shortly after by the Raiders' previous head coach. That has not been the case under the new Raiders' leadership.
Along with never throwing their quarterback under the bus, they've also spent the early part of the offseason giving O'Connell all of the things he didn't have during his unexpected rise to the starting position during his rookie season.
They've started to build a quality defense and resigned some of their most important offensive players. Keeping Andre James will undoubtedly help O'Connell more than anyone else on the team. The Raiders have added to their defense and will continue to use free agency and the NFL draft to improve their team.
Considering how many close games the Raiders lost last season, just by them improving their roster and coaching staff and giving him an entire offseason to put what he learned this past season to use, the Raiders are giving O'Connell a fair shot. In the National Football League, everyone isn't guaranteed a shot, let alone a fair one.
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