Raiders' Quarterback Room Is as Connected as Ever

The Las Vegas Raiders have searched for continuity at the quarterback position for most of the past few seasons. Las Vegas' group of quarterbacks has routinely ranked near the bottom of the National Football League, despite starting seven different quarterbacks since the 2023 season.

Raiders' QB Room is Connected

The Raiders aim to rebuild the depth at most of the positions on their roster. With the addition of Kirk Cousins and the NFL Draft right around the corner, the Raiders will soon eliminate quarterback as a position of need. Depending on what they do with Cousins, it may not be a need for a while.

Las Vegas will add quarterback Fernando Mendoza in the upcoming NFL Draft. They still have Aidan O'Connell on their roster, who has started many games for them as well. For the first time in a long time, the Raiders are comfortably three deep at quarterback heading into the season.

There are already plenty of connections among Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak, offensive coordinator Andrew Janocko, and Cousins, all of whom spent multiple seasons together with the Minnesota Vikings. There are even more commonalities than that in the room.

Las Vegas' offense has three quarterbacks who all played in the Big Ten while in college. Although all three played in very different eras of the conference and experienced various levels of success, there is yet another thing that multiple players or coaches have in common on the offensive side of the ball.

"I'm sure come the fall when they play each other, we'll be talking about it. But then there's also that fraternity of Big Ten quarterbacks. So, it's fun. It's cool. It's also fun just to see the journeys of how you get to the NFL, and you realize that just being a five-star and being the top guy that many times isn't the best path to take to end up having to win the long game. It's all about winning the long game,” Cousins said at his introductory press conference.

“So, sometimes it's Aidan O'Connell being a preferred walk on, and guys who win the long game often don't have the red carpet, but it gives them a grit and a toughness where they learn the tough times don't last, but tough people do and it kind of produces the right habits. I think our owner, Tom Brady, would have set a similar path with what he had, so it's a part of the journey."

Las Vegas is looking for any positives it can find to hang its hat on heading into the dog days of the summer. As offseason workouts ramp up, the Raiders must do all they can to expedite everyone's learning of the new aspects of the new coaching regime.

Every commonality will help make that happen, no matter how big or small it is.