Quarterback · Las Vegas Raiders

Aidan O'Connell

No. 12 · 4th season

From the starter's spot to the sideline — and he's okay with it

There is a version of this where Aidan O'Connell takes it hard. He was the guy in Las Vegas, a fourth-round pick who worked his way into the starting lineup and gave the Raiders something to build on. Then the roster shifted, and the job moved on without him.

O'Connell came into the league without much fanfare — late round, no guarantees, the kind of pick that has to prove something before anyone takes it seriously. He did enough to matter. That counts for something, even when the depth chart says otherwise.

Now he is the backup, and by most accounts he is leaning into it. That means being the voice in a younger quarterback's ear, the one who has already made the mistakes and can say so honestly. It is a different kind of value than starting, but it is real.

Not everyone who loses a starting job sticks around and helps. O'Connell is making a different choice — and for a team still figuring out what it is, that kind of steadiness in the building is worth more than it looks from the outside.

The question now is whether the role stays defined, or whether circumstances shift again. In Las Vegas, they usually do.

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