The Las Vegas Raiders are going to have a battle for the starting quarterback job this offseason, between Gardner Minshew and Aidan O'Connell. While it's only May, so there's no leader in the clubhouse, offensive coordinator Luke Getsy gave insight on what it will take to win the job this summer.
"I think [it's] the evaluation of the performance on a whole," Getsy said, via Pro Football Talk. "There's a lot of parts to it. I think it's the way that the operation [functions], making sure we're taking care of the football, and then the production part of it.
"I think this is a long process. We're at the beginning stages of it. Everyone's trying to get a grasp of what we're trying to accomplish — not just the Qs, but everybody."
The Raiders are in no rush to find their starting quarterback, giving Minshew and O'Connell every opportunity to win the job. Minshew has more starts under his belt (37) and is coming off a season with the Indianapolis Colts in which he completed 62.2% of his passes for 3,305 yards with 15 touchdowns to nine interceptions (84.6 rating). The Colts were 7-6 in Minshew's starts when he filled in for Anthony Richardson, who was lost for the season with an injury to his throwing shoulder in Week 5.
O'Connell replaced Jimmy Garoppolo as the Raiders starting quarterback last season, as Las Vegas went 5-5 in his starts. He completed 62.1% of his passes for 2,218 yards with 12 touchdowns to seven interceptions (83.9 rating). He became the starter after Antonio Pierce was named the interim head coach once Josh McDaniels was fired.
With Getsy as the new offensive coordinator, it's a fair competition between Minshew and O'Connell.
"The good thing is we've got a good group in that room. Those guys work their butt off and they're competitive, but they're great teammates too at the same time," Getsy said. "So the beginning part of this thing has been a lot of fun."
