Raiders Coach Antonio Pierce Talks State of the QB Room Post-Draft

Las Vegas Raiders coach Antonio Pierce is looking forward to what's ahead for his quarterback room.

Dec 31, 2023; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Aidan O'Connell (4) passes / Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Las Vegas Raiders did not come away from this year's NFL Draft with a quarterback, as the top six quarterbacks in the draft were taken prior to Las Vegas' turn to pick at 13th overall.

Raiders coach Antonio Pierce had discussed throughout the offseason what he liked about certain quarterbacks, including one of his former players, 2023 Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels.

While the Raiders were unable to take one of the top quarterbacks, Pierce is content with the direction the club went in.

The Raiders coach told reporters on Friday that he "was excited to pick" when Las Vegas was on the clock in Round 1.

"It was a lot," Pierce said of six quarterbacks going before the Raiders' turn. "I think an NFL record, right? It's one of those situations you just play it out. You're sitting there watching like everybody else, and again you've got your board, you're sitting there and then you look, and you say, 'We've got A or B or whatever it is," and obviously we're very fortunate to get a guy like Brock Bowers in our room and in our building."

Pierce is happy with where his quarterback room is at.

"I'm excited," he said. "I mean, what Aidan [O'Connell] did the last four games and from what he's
done this offseason – changing his body, his work ethic, being here every day, blocking out the outside noise, not worried about anything, I'm excited. And then you bring Gardner [Minshew II] in here. And listen, you talk about personality, I know you guys interviewed him, it's great. It's great for our building, it's great for our quarterback room. And if you have competition in the quarterback room, what does every other room look at? They're looking at those two guys.

"Anthony Brown Jr.'s done a heck of a job as well. So, what I see is guys getting out there early. Aidan has already kind of taken the bull by the horns and he's leading the way and [Gardner] Minshew's right there doing it as well. That's two guys that have played. And you saw them play against each other last year and they went neck to neck. But I'm really excited to see what happens. I think it's going to be a process. We're going stick to the process. But as I said before, Aidan's earned the right to go out there and get the first snap."

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