The Las Vegas Raiders are still in quarterback purgatory, as a start from Desmond Ridder, their newly signed quarterback, anytime this season would count as the fifth quarterback to start a game for the Raiders since Derek Carr was released before the 2023 season. That's, well, not good.
But, there is no indication Ridder will be starting this week against the Cincinnati Bengals, or even next week against the Miami Dolphins, he could see the field soon. We will come back to that in a bit.
Gardner Minshew won the starting job before the season started over Aidan O'Connell. He is averaging a turnover a game, if not more, and that forced the Raiders to make a difficult decision, turning their hand over to AOC, again. But, while O'Connell made a start, and actually played well, or better than Minshew, anyway, he ended up breaking his thumb.
That forced the Raiders' hand, no pun intended, to sign another quarterback for depth. They signed Desmond Ridder, the former Atlanta Falcons starter and Arizona Cardinals practice squad guy. He has yet to see the field, but if Minshew's turnover issues continue to plague the team, and the injuries get worse, he could see the field as the starter.
Well, even without those things he could see the field.
"Yeah, I think that's the best thing in situations," head coach Antonio Pierce said when asked about getting Desmond Ridder on the field. "You look at last week, and at times there were situations and at times there were not. So, you go with the flow of the game, but obviously, we're getting him ramped up for whatever opportunity that he's ready to play in."
The Raiders sound like they want Ridder on the field, but don't quite want to go away from Minshew just yet. And, the way he described it, it sounds like they will use him in a situation when they want to run some sort of run-pass option or an option play with the QB. Who knows, really?
A two-quarterback system is not seen in the NFL often. It is, though, seen in the college scene a ton. For example, the Florida Gators were doing it this year with their two QBs. If he does get on the field for a handful of plays, this will be the chance for the Raiders to try and improve their run game, but also, it will be Ridder's chance to show what he has.
While Ridder does have legs, the most rushing yards he has had in a season was his starting season with the Falcons and it was only 131 rush yards. So, I'm not sure if that's what he means, but I don't know what other situations he would be used in.
