Former teammate praises 'tremendous' Raiders QB Aidan O’Connell

Free-agent quarterback Brian Hoyer shared a locker room with Aidan O'Connell last season, and he sounds ready to anoint him as the Raiders' starter over journeyman Gardner Minshew ahead of training camp.

"Being there first-hand and watching Aidan grow, I remember him saying at the end of the year, 'I never thought this is how this year would play out,'" Hoyer said about O'Connell during a recent SiriusXM NFL Radio appearance, per Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. "At the beginning of the year, he was third on the depth chart and then he ended up finishing the entire year. And I thought to see his growth and what he was able to do as a fourth-round pick was tremendous."

Hoyer signed with the Raiders last offseason before the club made O'Connell a fourth-round draft pick. O'Connell began his rookie season as somewhat of a forgotten figure but was called into action first after Jimmy Garoppolo went down with an injury and later when Raiders owner Mark Davis fired both head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler.

O'Connell went 5-5 as a starter and completed 62.1% of 343 passes for 2,218 yards with 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions. According to Pro Football Reference, he ended the regular season ranked 26th among qualified players with a 40.5 adjusted QBR and 22nd with a 43.6% passing success rate.

O'Connell reportedly has a "slight edge" over Minshew regarding a quarterback competition expected to run from training camp through at least one preseason game. Hoyer seems to like O'Connell's chances.

"Maybe I’m biased," Hoyer continued during the show segment, "but I think what Aidan did last year — I know he hasn’t shown it as much as Gardner Minshew has throughout his career, but I know the guys really gravitated to the way Aidan took over and his leadership as a young player."

As of Wednesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook interestingly listed Minshew as the betting favorite at -145 odds to start the Raiders' Week 1 game at the Los Angeles Chargers on Sept. 8. That outlet had O'Connell at +120 odds.