Raiders' Antonio Pierce Discusses What Makes QB Competition So Great

The concept of a quarterback battle can often generate negative narratives.

People outside of the organization can interpret it as the team not having a set quarterback or one it can trust. It is also often assumed the quarterbacks have disdain for one another, as each wants that starting spot for themself.

None of that is the case for the Las Vegas Raiders.

Right now, the Raiders are looking to find their QB1, and the battle has come down to returning Raiders quarterback Aidan O'Connell and veteran quarterback Gardner Minshew II.

For Raiders coach Antonio Pierce, he loves the competition. Not only does he see it as a healthy competition between the two quarterbacks, but he feels it brings out the best in the team as a whole.

"I think they embrace the competition," Pierce told reporters on Thursday. "It's great. I mean, the best part about it [is] it's a friendly competition. And when I say friendly, we shake hands and kiss babies, but when we go out there, we're trying to both be the guy, and you love to see that, and our team sees that. And I said this probably early on in the offseason, when you have competition, some people see competition at the quarterback position as like, 'Oh my God, we're scared.' No, I love it. Because the rest of our team, we're looking at them, so what does everybody else on our team have to do? They have to compete. And what we now have is competition throughout our entire roster.

"There's competition in the running back room, that defensive line room, there's some boys in there. There's some grown men in there that can play football. Not going to be able to keep all of them. Our linebacker room, our DBs. I mean, there's some guys here that's really -- seeing the competition at quarterback has risen the competition overall on our team."

The Raiders have talent all across the board heading into the 2024 season. As training camp approaches, the coaching staff is searching for the players it trusts most to represent the Silver and Black on the field.