The Las Vegas Raiders decided two weeks ago to replace QB Gardner Minshew II with Aidan O'Connell but were forced to reverse that call on Sunday against Los Angeles Rams.
O'Connell suffered a hand injury that was later reported as a broken thumb. He left the game and the field and headed back to the locker room.
Eventually, O'Connell re-emerged and joined his team on the sidelines. And while he remained in uniform, he also had a large wrap on his injured thumb and didn't appear capable of re-entering the game.
Las Vegas finds itself in a precarious position at 2-4 and trailing the Rams in Week 7. Halfway through the third quarter, Minshew had completed less than 50% of his 19 pass attempts and had already thrown 2 interceptions.
If O'Connell is out for an extended period of time, which is highly likely, the Raiders will have no choice but to add another quarterback in the coming week. However, instead of looking at a backup to Minshew, they should arguably consider pursuing a player who can start for them sooner than later.
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Justin Fields.
Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
One potential option is Justin Fields. The Pittsburgh Steelers benched Fields this week in favor of Russell Wilson, despite a 4-2 start to his tenure with the team.
Fields has accounted for 1,106 passing yards, 5 TDs and just 1 INT on 66.3% passing in Pittsburgh this season. However, what makes Fields a true offensive weapon is his ability to move the football with his feet.
He has amassed 231 rushing yards and 5 TDs through six games this season. During his second NFL campaign in 2022, when he was starting for the Chicago Bears, Fields produced 1,143 rushing yards and 8 TDs by way of a league-leading 7.1 yards per attempt.
Fields finished 9th in MVP voting following that campaign after posting the second-highest rushing total by any quarterback in NFL history. His mark fell short of only the 1,206 rushing yards that Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson put up in 2019.
It is unclear if Fields will his way onto the trade market ahead of the November 5 deadline, though his benching coupled with the fact that he is in the final year of his rookie contract make it more likely than it would be otherwise.
The Steelers probably wouldn't have benched Fields for Wilson, who is playing in his age-36 season and is also on a one-year contract in Pittsburgh, if they expected the 25-year-old Fields to be their QB of the future.
As such, if the team is going to part ways with Fields after the year is over regardless, it could make sense to try and get a quality draft asset back in trade from a QB-needy team like the Raiders now appear to be.
