Las Vegas Raiders Named NFL’s Worst Team In This Crucial Area

The Las Vegas Raiders were one of the darlings of the NFL over the second half of last season after Antonio Pierce took over as head coach.

The Raiders went 5-4 under Pierce, playing an old-school brand of smashmouth football that even gave the Kansas City Chiefs issues.

However, fans and media pundits are not too high on Las Vegas heading into 2024.

There are a variety of reasons why the Raiders are not highly regarded, but perhaps the most prominent issue facing Las Vegas is its quarterback situation.

As a matter of fact, Pro Football Focus says the Raiders have the worst quarterback room in football.

Las Vegas is currently employing Aidan O’Connell as its starter under center, and it signed veteran signal-caller Gardner Minshew to provide some competition in training camp.

The Raiders owned the 13th overall pick in the NFL Draft late last month, but all six first-round talents at quarterback were taken before they were on the clock. There are no reports that Las Vegas made any real efforts to trade up, and the club ultimately selected Georgia tight end Brock Bowers with the pick.

On the bright side, O’Connell showed some promise late last season, throwing eight touchdowns and no interceptions over his final four games. But overall, O’Connell was relatively uninspiring in 11 appearances and 10 starts, totaling 2,218 yards, 12 touchdowns and seven picks while completing 62.1 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 83.9.

As far as Minshew is concerned, we pretty much know what he is at this point. He is a fantastic backup and is certainly serviceable as a starter, but he’s not someone who is going to move the needle.

For a Raiders franchise that is in desperate need of some sort of sparkplug, their depth chart at quarterback is not exactly thrilling.

Of course, O’Connell could always come out and impress in 2024. Perhaps he will live up to the preseason hype that surrounded him last summer. But there is also a chance that he looks an awful lot like he did for most of 2023, which was pedestrian.

Las Vegas went 8-9 this past year and has made the playoffs just twice since 2003. To make matters worse, the Raiders play in an AFC West division that houses Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. Yes, Las Vegas beat Kansas City on Christmas last winter, but let’s be honest: the Raiders aren’t messing with the Chiefs.

We’ll see if Las Vegas is able to prove its doubters wrong come September.