The Las Vegas Raiders offseason is underway with Tom Telesco taking over as general manager and a veteran coaching staff hired to help head coach Antonio Pierce. Now, the front office is focused on improving the roster with a specific focus on quarterback.
The gamble on quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in 2023 backfired and he’s not expected to be retained. Fortunately for Las Vegas, both the 2024 NFL Draft and NFL free agency will offer some intriguing options to become the starting quarterback next season.
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While the Raiders could stick with their best in-house option, it would be a massive gamble for a franchise that hasn’t won a playoff game since 2002. As a result, Pierce acknowledges that Las Vegas will be bringing in significant competition at quarterback.
Speaking to The Athletic’s Vic Tafur before Super Bowl LVIII, Raiders’ head coach Antonio Pierce said the team would acquire a quarterback this offseason. Weeks after officially being named the full-time head coach in Las Vegas, Pierce also shed light on quarterback Aidan O’Connell during an appearance on The Rich Eisen Show.
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“I think Aidan O’Connell put himself into a position that whoever we bring in, he should battle, I’m all about competition. That would take care of itself. But Aidan O’Connell, as the season went along, I thought did an outstanding job of taking care of the football, managing the game and doing what we asked him to do. … Now, we made some changes on the offensive side of the ball. … I’m sure, as you know, we’ll bring in a quarterback in some capacity and we’re gonna let those guys battle.”
Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce on the team’s quarterback position in 2024
While O’Connell has received some praise from the coaching staff, he didn’t exactly perform well in limited duties. In his final 9 starts, the Raiders’ rookie quarterback finished with an 86.1 QB rating, completing just 61.51 percent of his passes and averaging 6.55 yards per attempt.
With all of that in mind, it’s worth examining some of the best quarterback options for the Raiders in 2024.
Identifying the Raiders top QB options in 2024
For the sake of this exercise, we’ll exclude scenarios where Las Vegas trades up for the third pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. While that is a possibility, the cost of jumping up that high in comparison to the number of team needs Las Vegas has makes it unlikely.
In addition, the hiring of offensive coordinator Luke Getsy rules out a trade for quarterback Justin Fields. Las Vegas believed Fields was the problem with the Chicago Bears offense in 2023, ruling out a potential deal for him. With all of that in mind, here are some of the best options.
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- Jacoby Brissett (free agent): Over the last two seasons as a spot-starter for the Cleveland Browns and Washington Commanders, Jacoby Brissett has been extremely effective. In his last 19 games played, he boasts a 15-6 TD-INT line with a 92.6 QB rating, averaging 7.2 yards per attempt. He’s proven himself as a starter and the weapons in Las Vegas could make Brissett even more effective.
- Tyrod Taylor (free agent): Turning 35 in August, Tyrod Taylor has primarily been a backup quarterback in the last 2 seasons. When given playing time, however, he has performed well. Across his last 14 games, Taylor is responsible for an 88.9 QB rating with a 64.9 percent completion rate. He is also still a fairly solid athlete, providing some dual-threat ability at quarterback for Las Vegas.
- J.J. McCarthy (NFL Draft): Amid a growing belief that J.J. McCarthy will be a first-round pick, Las Vegas might have to snag him with its top pick if they want him. McCarthy has been called the best quarterback prospect in the 2024 class by Jim Harbaugh and he is expected to blow teams away in interviews at the NFL Combine. If the Raiders spend a first-round pick on McCarthy, it’s a safe bet he’ll be the starting quarterback in Week 1.
- Spencer Rattler (NFL Draft): If Las Vegas doesn’t have a top-15 grade on McCarthy, the best decision is to just wait until Day 2 to draft a quarterback. While Spencer Rattler was inconsistent at South Carolina and comes with some immaturity concerns, he is one of the most physically gifted players Las Vegas will find available on Day 2. Even as a bit of a project, the Raiders coaching staff could give him a shot to compete with O’Connell for the starting job.
