Raiders Won't Deal with QB Controversy

The Raiders saw Jimmy Garoppolo, Aidan O’Connell, Gardner Minshew II, and Desmond Ridder struggled to lead the team as a successful offense. Smith revived his career in Seattle under new Raiders head coach Pete Carroll. 

The only aforementioned quarterback who remains on the roster is O’Connell. While he has done a fine job with his opportunities, the team has felt the need to replace him in the last two offseasons. 

O’Connell is a quality backup for Smith, but Geno will comfortably take the starting job. There will not be a quarterback competition like there was between Minshew and O’Connell last season. 

Raiders fans should be excited about what they have with Smith. There will be no quarterback controversy this offseason, and Raider Nation can instead focus on how Smith will assimilate into Chip Kelly’s offense and mesh with Brock Bowers and Ja’Kobi Meyers. 

Some teams struggle to find their franchise signal caller, but the Raiders do not have to. Having a QB they can trust under contract for the foreseeable future is a luxury. 

The new season of ‘Quarterback’ dropped on Netflix this week, featuring Joe Burrow, Jared Goff, and Kirk Cousins. 

Burrow and Goff have their positions on lock, but Cousins lost his to Michael Penix Jr. after playing poorly in a critical stretch for the Atlanta Falcons. 

The Falcons have dealt with quarterback issues since trading Matt Ryan. The Raiders should feel fortunate that they found their guy and that they no longer have to deal with that sort of thing. 

Atlanta is not the only team dealing with quarterback issues. The Cleveland Browns have four quarterbacks taking snaps in practice, and no one knows who the starter will be.

Smith has made some big throws in the last few seasons, but most importantly, he will elevate the offense’s floor to a level it has not been at since Carr was taking snaps. 

Smith is the Raiders’ guy—no worries at the most important position in football.

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