Call me crazy, but I kind of like Aidan O’Connell. Sort of. The Raiders have quietly been putting up some surprising passing numbers since switching offensive coordinators.
If we go back to Week 10, Las Vegas was firing Luke Getsy. The offense averaged only 200 passing yards in his final six games in charge. During that bye week, they elevated Scott Turner to the coordinator role, with his dad (coaching legend Norv Turner) tagging along to help him.
There has been some passing game progress with the Turners spinning the tracks, including 282 yards at Miami, 328 yards against Denver and 340 yards at Kansas City. They dipped to only 205 and 208 yards against the Bucs and Falcons, but they were back up to 257 last week against the Jaguars.
That puts them at an average of 270 passing yards in their last six games. Only five teams have thrown for more yards in their last six games.
| PASSING YARDS (last 6 G) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Team | YPG | TD | Int |
| Detroit | 342.0 | 17 | 1 |
| Cincinnati | 330.8 | 19 | 4 |
| Miami | 285.3 | 13 | 3 |
| Minnesota | 274.8 | 15 | 1 |
| Cleveland | 274.0 | 8 | 12 |
| Las Vegas | 270.0 | 6 | 5 |
| Buffalo | 258.7 | 9 | 4 |
| Tampa Bay | 256.0 | 11 | 6 |
| Arizona | 250.7 | 5 | 6 |
| Tennessee | 250.5 | 9 | 9 |
| Chicago | 249.5 | 10 | 0 |
| Dallas | 248.2 | 10 | 2 |
| Denver | 247.0 | 14 | 5 |
| Kansas City | 236.7 | 11 | 2 |
| Baltimore | 234.7 | 17 | 2 |
| Atlanta | 234.3 | 1 | 10 |
| NY Jets | 234.0 | 9 | 1 |
| Seattle | 233.5 | 6 | 6 |
| Pittsburgh | 232.0 | 9 | 3 |
| New England | 231.5 | 8 | 6 |
| LA Chargers | 226.8 | 7 | 2 |
| Washington | 226.3 | 13 | 6 |
| Houston | 225.5 | 8 | 7 |
| Green Bay | 224.8 | 9 | 1 |
| LA Rams | 218.5 | 11 | 1 |
| New Orleans | 216.0 | 8 | 4 |
| Jacksonville | 214.3 | 5 | 8 |
| Carolina | 209.2 | 7 | 3 |
| San Francisco | 205.3 | 6 | 5 |
| NY Giants | 198.0 | 2 | 7 |
| Indianapolis | 188.0 | 6 | 8 |
| Philadelphia | 178.3 | 7 | 1 |
Which brings us to this week. The Raiders are at New Orleans, preparing to face a bottom-10 defense. Only five teams have allowed more passing yards than the Saints (who hardly looked like an NFL team on Monday).
That has me thinking Aidan O’Connell might fit nicely as a low-level starter in a Superflex league. I’m not suggesting he’s going to put up top-15 numbers (the Raiders have had problems putting the ball in the end zone, and he offers nothing in terms of rushing production). But I think he’s got a good chance of passing for 250-plus yards, beating most other starters in that category.
I’m a little bit of an O’Connell fan. He’s been a lot better than the Raiders’ other quarterbacks in terms of avoiding sacks and interceptions. I’m not in a Superflex league, but if I was, I’d be looking at O’Connell as a potential plug-in player for Week 17.
—Ian Allan