A nightmare preseason for Aidan O’Connell got even worse on Saturday. In the Las Vegas Raiders‘ loss to the Arizona Cardinals, O’Connell had to leave the game early due to a wrist injury, and it turned out to be a serious one.
The young quarterback is set to miss six to eight weeks due to the injury. This is a big blow to O’Connell and the Raiders. He was supposed to be Geno Smith’s backup this season, but now, rookie Cam Miller is the only other healthy quarterback on the roster.
Smith is a durable quarterback, so the Raiders have to hope that he’s able to play the whole season, but if he misses any time, it’ll be a problem.
This is why Las Vegas will likely have to see who might be available in free agency or the trade market. In fact, there might be a promising young quarterback who will be available.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson a Fit?
Smith is going to be a big upgrade at starter for the Raiders over what they’ve had the last few years, but the quarterback depth is very concerning. Instead of going with a veteran free agent, it could be wise for Las Vegas to trade for a young quarterback with upside.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson has been an intriguing young quarterback due to his dual-threat ability. However, he spent the first two years of his career with the Cleveland Browns as they dealt with chaos at quarterback.
The Philadelphia Eagles traded for him this offseason, but they have four quarterbacks on the roster. Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton sees Thompson-Robinson as a fit with the Raiders.
“Dorian Thompson-Robinson played under Chip Kelly at UCLA,” Moton wrote on X. “Eagles have 4 QBs. DTR to the Raiders sounds logical to me.”
Thompson-Robison spent five years in Kelly’s system at UCLA, so he knows the coach as well as anyone. In addition to his Kelly ties, the quarterback also played high school football at Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas, Nevada. Going to the Raiders would be a bit of a homecoming for him. If Las Vegas can get him for cheap, he makes a lot of sense for the team. General manager John Spytek used to work with Eagles general manager John Spytek, and they’ve already made a trade recently, so this deal could materialize quickly.
What About Cam Miller?
The Raiders did use a sixth-round pick to draft Cam Miller recently, but he was supposed to be more of a project. It would be a risk to have a rookie quarterback from a small school in a position where he might actually have to play.
Head coach Pete Carroll spoke about Miller following the O’Connell news.
“We just got to see what we can do and keep developing Cam,” Carroll said Saturday. “Fortunately, he got a lot of playing time tonight, and that’ll help him.”
Carroll was asked if Miller could be the backup, but he played coy.
“We’ll see,” Carroll said. “Let’s see what happens here. We’ve got to check the film.”
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Raiders Called on to Trade for Dual Threat QB With Vegas Ties Amid Injury News appeared first on Heavy Sports.