The Las Vegas Raiders can succeed with rookie Aidan O’Connell at quarterback—just look at the success of the Minnesota Vikings as a blueprint.
The Raiders opponents this week have been on a roll as of late. The Vikings have won five of their last seven games and are firmly in the NFC playoff hunt at 6-6. They have done so despite losing starting quarterback Kirk Cousins to a season-ending Achilles injury. Interestingly, the reason why the loss of Cousins has not had much of an impact is because his play was not what was determining whether Minnesota won or lost to begin with.
Should the Raiders roll with Aidan O’Connell?
That isn’t to say Cousins wasn’t playing well. He was. The point is that the Vikings have been able to win without relying on elite quarterback play. In fact, one could argue that they have been doing this for years. Since their 1998 run with Randall Cunningham, the Vikings have made 10 playoff appearances and three trips to the NFC title game, despite not having a better quarterback than Cousins at any point in that time (Daunte Culpepper and old-ass Brett Favre are lateral moves at best).
As the Raiders weigh the decision to move forward with Aidan O’Connell beyond this season, they should take Minnesota’s example into consideration. Let’s look into what the Vikings have done to help elevate their good, but not great, quarterbacks. We will start with the obvious.
You Need Defense
In the last 10 years, the Vikings have been in the top ten in the league in scoring defense five times. They made the playoffs in three of those five years. Last season was the only time in the last decade in which they did not have a top-ten scoring defense and still made it to the postseason.
In that same time frame, the Raiders have not had a scoring defense rank higher than 20th in the league. This puts a lot of pressure on the offense and, consequently, the quarterback. Say what you will about Raiders passers of the past, but it is hard to consistently win in this league when your offense has to consistently score at least 25 points to have a shot at winning.
Things seem to be heading in the right direction for the Raiders in this department. They are currently 18th in the league in scoring defense. This has kept them in a lot of games this year, despite sub-par quarterback play. If they can continue to build on this success, it would put a lot less pressure on a quarterback like O’Connell. However, another coaching change might halt that progress.
Continuity Is Key For These Raiders And Aidan O’Connell
Since the 2001 in-season firing of Dennis Green, Minnesota has had just five different head coaches. Keep in mind that that includes interim head coaches. Two of their coaches, Mike Tice and Leslie Frazier, started out with the interim designation but were then given the job for several years. When you have that kind of continuity on the coaching staff, it makes it a lot easier to build a solid defense and maximize a quarterback’s talents.
Continuity might as well be a four-letter word at Raiders headquarters. Including interim coaches, the Raiders have had seven different head coaches just in the last decade. It is difficult to build anything when all of the major decision-makers change every three years, and most of the players that they brought in are gone shortly after.
Constant turnover makes it difficult to build anything. Sometimes it is better to give that unspectacular interim coach a couple years rather than chase the next big thing. It doesn’t matter how great of a coach you bring in if the players do not have a stable environment to thrive in. Speaking of the players, surrounding the quarterback with talent is very important.
Star Power
While the Vikings haven’t had stars at quarterback, they have had several at other positions. They have had some great running backs in Dalvin Cook and Adrian Peterson. Defensively, they have had big-time playmakers like Everson Griffen and Jared Allen. Most importantly, the Vikings have a rich history at the wide receiver position, from Justin Jefferson to Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen, even going back to Randy Moss.
The Raiders have slowly been getting better with this. Currently, Las Vegas has star players at wide receiver with Davante Adams, at running back with Josh Jacobs, and at defensive end with Maxx Crosby. The key to the Raiders moving forward will be keeping those players. They have let go of these high-level players in the past, with recent examples being Darren Waller and Khalil Mack, and going a little further back to players like Nnamdi Asomugha and Charles Woodson. Currently, the Raiders have Crosby locked up long-term, but Jacobs is in a contract year, and the Adams trade rumors have already begun to swirl.
Having elite playmakers at several other key positions is crucial if you are settling for just above-average play at quarterback. Also, those other positions generally have a higher supply of high-end talent. By adding non-quarterback star players first, you can then take your time finding the right signal caller.
Raiders Notes: The Quarterback Search Continues
Even if the Raiders have success with O’Connell, they can and should continue to look for an elite quarterback. The Vikings once again provide a great example of this. They have spent high draft picks on guys like Christian Ponder and Teddy Bridgewater, but they were never afraid to bring in other guys. Even when they found someone they really liked in Kirk Cousins, that hasn’t stopped them from exploring other options in the draft and spending picks on players like Kellen Mond and Jaren Hall.
Throughout the entirety of Derek Carr’s Raiders tenure, Las Vegas only drafted one quarterback, which was Connor Cook in 2016. Even after moving on from Carr, Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler settled for Jimmy Garoppolo rather than pursue Aaron Rodgers or Lamar Jackson. They finally took a quarterback in the draft this past spring in O’Connell. However, the rookie out of Purdue lacks elite upside.
Nonetheless, the Raiders can have success with someone like Aidan O’Connell. Minnesota has a great blueprint for how to do that. Plus, if Las Vegas can put the pieces in place to succeed with him, it will make finding an upgrade at quarterback that much easier.
*Top Photo: AP Photo/Sam Morris
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