QB Coach Impressed With Aidan O'Connell

The Las Vegas Raiders' hired quarterbacks coach Rich Scangarello in February to lead a quarterback room headlined by Aidan O'Connell and cultivate a competitive environment with whomever the Silver and Black would bring in to compete for the starting job.

The Raiders would sign Gardner Minshew to compete with O'Connell, and so far the two quarterbacks have been competing at OTAs. Scangarello has been impress with O'Connell, who came in last season and threw for 2,218 yards, 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions, while helping the Raiders finish 8-9 after a 3-5 start.

“Just watching from afar last year, I was incredibly impressed with how he handled the situation," Scangarello told reporters at a recent OTA. "Both of the quarterbacks in the room with him last year, I had prior friendships and relationships with, and they were extremely impressed with them. So, as I've seen him up close, I just feel like the individual is everything you'd hoped he'd be. He's just got a lot of internal drive, discipline, how he sees the game the right way. He wants to be great. He'll work at it. He's selfless and he has a great deal of respect among the teammates, the coaching staff and everyone in the building.

"So, I think to do that as a rookie thrown into how he was, I give him a lot of credit and says a lot about the individual, and without that it's tough to be successful in this league, definitely to be great at the position. So, that's exciting to work with.”

Scangarello was also impressed with O'Connell's arm talent, and told reporters O'Connell reminded him of playoff-winning quarterback Kirk Cousins.

“From what I've seen, he's exceptionally accurate. I don't say that lightly," Scangarello said. "Everyone has traits and there are strengths and weaknesses to every quarterback in this league, but he throws the ball where he needs it to go at a very high level. So, that's exciting and it's important in this system. And as far as the mobility and who's the guy and all that, that's the beauty of this system. It has flexibility to fit the personnel, whether it's your skill players, your line, or more importantly, your quarterback type of play. And so, I'm excited about his arm talent. I think he throws the ball very well and he can push the ball down the field."

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