Has O’Connell done enough to be Raiders’ starting QB next year?

The Raiders have several questions to answer this offseason, but none is as important as what they do at quarterback.

The more they win, the cloudier the situation gets.

The Raiders, at 4-12, could find themselves in the same spot they were last offseason. They may end up out of range to draft out of top college prospects and be forced to decide whether Aidan O’Connell deserves another shot to be their starter.

Coach Antonio Pierce said Monday that O’Connell has shown him he can be a “starting NFL quarterback.” Pierce’s own future is uncertain, however, despite the Raiders’ two-game winning streak. He may not be in charge of O’Connell’s fate.

O’Connell, 26, has appeared in 19 games and made 16 starts since being selected in the fourth round of the 2023 draft. His statistics in those contests are solid but not spectacular.

He has completed 62.1 percent of his passes for 3,616 yards, 18 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. The Raiders are 7-9 in his starts.

O’Connell has graded out as the NFL’s 37th-best quarterback this season, according to the website Pro Football Focus.

The former Purdue standout has played well in the Raiders’ two recent victories. He passed for 242 yards and two touchdowns Sunday in his team’s 25-10 road win over the Saints and did not commit a turnover for the second straight game.

“He’s been resilient,” Pierce said.

Whether that’s enough for him to enter next season as the Raiders’ starter is unclear.

Weird year

O’Connell started the Raiders’ final nine games as a rookie in 2023 but was beaten out by veteran Gardner Minshew for the starting job before this season.

The team stumbled out of the gate and turned back to O’Connell in Week 6. But he suffered a broken hand and knee injury that caused him to miss five of the Raiders’ past nine games.

Pierce has still been impressed with O’Connell’s production.

“The more reps he gets, the more opportunities he gets, he makes the most out of them,” Pierce said. “And like I said, whenever he protects a football, he puts us all in a better position.”

One thing O’Connell’s recent play has done is hurt the Raiders’ draft positioning.

They were projected to pick second in the draft after Week 15. Two games later, they’ve dropped to No. 8. That means the Raiders may need to trade up to grab one of the top two quarterback prospects in April’s draft, Shedeur Sanders of Colorado and Cam Ward of Miami (Florida).

The team could also look to the free agent or trade markets if it believes Sanders and Ward are out of its reach. Or it could decide O’Connell has made enough of a case for himself to return as the starter.

Cloudy future

Pierce, with all the uncertainty around the Raiders’ quarterback position in the past year, praised O’Connell for the way he’s conducted himself.

“Obviously, go back to the quarterback competition in the spring and training camp. Thought he handled it like a pro,” Pierce said. “He was always ready to go.”

O’Connell, after losing the starting job to begin the season and dealing with two injuries this year, is just trying to make the most of his time on the field.

“Obviously, every game is valuable,” O’Connell said. “I have a lot of great teammates around me that are performing at a high level that are making me look good.”

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com . Follow @VinnyBonsignore on X.