Pete Carroll Offers Eye-Opening Aidan O’Connell Update Amid QB Struggles
Posted December 21, 2025
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Las Vegas Raiders QB Aidan O’Connell.
The Las Vegas Raiders appear committed to having Geno Smith start at quarterback for the rest of the season. At 2-12, it doesn’t really make sense not to give the younger quarterbacks a chance to compete.
Kenny Pickett got his chance in Week 15 against the Philadelphia Eagles, but played very poorly in the 31-0 loss. The Raiders have probably seen what they needed to see from him.
One quarterback who hasn’t gotten a chance is Aidan O’Connell. He has started a lot of games for the Raiders over the last two seasons, and while he hasn’t looked special, he’s at least taken care of the ball and made the occasional play.
He missed the first half of the season due to a preseason injury, but he’s healthy now. With three games left, it wouldn’t be the worst idea to get him on the field. Head coach Pete Carroll wouldn’t mind seeing him take some snaps before the year ends.
“I would like to see him play. Yeah. I would,” Carroll said. “We got a lot of film on him from last year, and so we have a good feel for him, and he’s done a really good job in practice. It would be nice to see him play. But I would say that for any young guy.”
Smith Expects to Stick With Raiders
Carroll is likely the only reason that Smith continues to be the Raiders’ starter. He hasn’t played well this season, and he’s 35, so there’s no upside there.
Many expect the Raiders to move on from Smith after the season, but he doesn’t feel the same way. He’s still hoping for a chance to be a part of the eventual turnaround.
“I’m expecting to win a lot of games here,” Smith said Wednesday.
“That’s what we’re pressing towards, and nothing happens in one day [or] one year,” Smith added. “We would have loved to win the Super Bowl this year, but that’s not our reality right now. The reality is we’ve got to get better, and we’ve got to focus on getting better day to day, and anything else outside of that really is nonsense.”
Raiders Need to Get Brock Bowers More Involved
The Raiders offense didn’t have much more talent last season, but at least O’Connell was able to keep star tight end Brock Bowers involved. Las Vegas needs to utilize their star tight end better.
The team plays the Houston Texans in Week 16, and head coach DeMeco Ryans has been very impressed with Bowers.
“He’s a truly dynamic tight end,” Ryans said, via Raiders.com. “You don’t see many tight ends like him who align all over the field. He’s not just aligned at the tight end position. He lines up at the wide receiver position and he runs wide receiver routes. He presents a tough challenge for us matchup wise, kind of like on the flip side with Crosby. You’ve got to know where Bowers is at all times. He does a really great job of catching the football. He can run every route on the route tree. He’s not a one trick pony, he can do it all. I really respect his game. I really loved his game when he was at Georgia as well. I think he’s one of the best tight ends in the league right now.”
