Aidan

O'Connell

Mayer has been sidelined since injuring his ankle in Week 12 against the Browns. Raiders head coach Pete Carroll said he expects rookie WR Jack Bech to be more involved with Thornton, a fellow rookie, sidelined this week. Thornton has caught just 8-of-25 targets for 123 yards this season, though, so his absence in the passing game is hardly significant. Bech should not be started against the Broncos’ elite defense. Raiders EDGE Maxx Crosby (knee) is active, as expected.

Mayer was unable to practice all week, rehabbing an ankle injury. He has had bouts of fantasy relevance this year when Brock Bowers has been sidelined, but the Raiders haven’t built a consistent enough passing game for anyone but Bowers to be an easy start. O’Connell will be available to the team as the emergency third quarterback. Holmes’ illness-induced absence against a talented Chargers passing attack is unfortunate. Raiders DT Adam Butler (illness) is active, though.

O’Connell was activated from injured reserve earlier this week. He is currently behind Kenny Pickett on the depth chart.

O’Connell went down with the wrist injury in the Raiders’ preseason finale. The team then acquired Kenny Pickett to back up Geno Smith. With how poorly Smith has played this year, there’s a remote chance O’Connell sees action late in the season. However, that isn’t something we expect to see anytime soon.

O’Connell has been sidelined for nearly two months with a wrist injury. He could be back as the Raiders’ backup QB for Week 9 against the Jaguars, or the team could wait until Week 10 or 11 to make him active. O’Connell could end up seeing playing time in 2025 unless Geno Smith can turn it around in the next few weeks. Smith has been among the least efficient quarterbacks in football this season.

He was expected to miss 6-8 weeks after getting hurt in the preseason finale, so while he can theoretically be back for Week 5, O’Connell’s timeline is probably a little deeper than that. After the Raiders acquired Kenny Pickett, there’s little reason to believe O’Connell will throw a pass for the team this year.

O’Connell suffered the fractured wrist in the team’s final preseason game and is set to miss six to eight weeks, potentially setting up an injured reserve stint to start the regular season. Sixth-round rookie Cam Miller is the only other quarterback currently on the roster, meaning we could see the Raiders exploring the waiver wire or potential trades to satisfy their need for a backup quarterback.

If the Raiders are dead-set on drafting a developmental quarterback behind Geno Smith, there certainly would be no reason for them to hang on to O’Connell. We’d be surprised if any team saw enough good in O’Connell to have him compete for a starting role in 2025, but he’d make for a decent backup fit for a few teams given he has two years left on his rookie deal. Patriots OC Josh McDaniels, notably, drafted O’Connell in 2023.

It certainly paints a picture of where Pete Carroll and John Spytek think of the quarterback room they inherited. The rookie would be expected to “learn from [Geno] Smith.” The Raiders probably are out of the first-round quarterback sweepstakes after acquiring Smith. But it does sound like they realize that Geno — entering his age-35 season — is only a short-term solution and are acting to make sure they have a backup plan in place that they believe in.

The Raiders are doing everything they can to improve their quarterback room ahead of next season. They were in on the idea of trading for Matthew Stafford before he decided to remain with the Rams, but are still willing to explore the trade market for another veteran starter if the price is right. One player to watch could be Geno Smith, who is in the final year of his current deal with the Seahawks and spent four seasons with Pete Carroll in Seattle. The Raiders are expected to be players for Sam Darnold, so it’s possible they don’t pursue a trade until Darnold finds a new home. Either way, it’s clear they hope to take a massive leap at quarterback in hopes of keeping pace with a division that already features Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, and Bo Nix.