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Industry titan DraftKings has the most well-circulated line on the Raiders’ quarterback competition, and its 57% implied probability slanted towards Minshew — he’s a -200 favorite (i.e. risking $200 to win $100) with O’Connell coming back at +150 (i.e risking $100 to win $150) — might be too short.
It’s fair to be encouraged by the strides O’Connell has shown since last season ended, but Minshew is still primed to take over at some point during the Raiders’ training-camp stay in Costa Mesa, Calif., beginning on July 19.
The clues are everywhere, and none are more obvious than the two-year, $25 million contract new general manager Tom Telesco gave Minshew in one of his first orders of business at the helm of the Raiders.
Minshew would be one of the, if not the single, highest-paid backup in the NFL if he starts the season behind O’Connell on the depth chart.
The free-agency deal Minshew signed to join the Raiders from the Indianapolis Colts would immediately look like a mistake, a misallocation of precious resources that the team could have used to fill other roster holes.
McDaniels didn’t value mobility out of his quarterbacks and loved the thought of O’Connell standing tall and using his accuracy to zip in passes in a manner he predetermined.
That’s now how the Raiders’ new regime thinks about offense. And even if Pierce has a special fondness for the way O’Connell improved during a 3-1 run to end last regular season, he’s going to do everything to put Getsy in a position to succeed.
And it’s going to take a lot more than a few non-contact practices in June for O’Connell to demonstrate he’s a better option in the new offense than Minshew.
“I think as any real competitor, you don’t want them to be worse, you want yourself to be better,” Minshew said of the quarterback competition. “So, the better he is, if I’m beating him out, that means I’m just raising it that much more. So, that’s kind of how I’ve always viewed it, like if he’s pushing me and he’s completing every pass, I’ve got to figure out a way to do better.”
Minshew will get better as he settles in with his fourth NFL team, and as the scheme solidifies with the pads coming on during training camp.
The betting odds are right for the moment. Minshew is the likelier Week 1 starter for the Raiders despite O’Connell getting off to a faster start.