Who Should I Start? Geno Smith or Aidan O'Connell

Tuesday, April 1, 1:39 PM

Las Vegas Raiders head coach Pete Carroll said on Monday that the team is "working on it" in regards to a long-term contract extension with quarterback Geno Smith. The 34-year-old veteran signal-caller turned down the Seattle Seahawks' initial contract offer after the scouting combine in February, which led Seattle to eventually trade Smith to the Raiders in a surprising move. Smith and Carroll will be working together again in 2025 after they were together in Seattle from 2020-23. Smith was a Pro Bowler in both 2022 and 2023 under Carroll, completing 67.4$ of his pass attempts for 7,906 combined passing yards, 50 touchdowns and 20 interceptions in 32 starts. The familiarity between the two is a plus, but other than tight end Brock Bowers, Smith's weapons in his new home are questionable, at best, making him more of a QB2 target yet again in fantasy in 2025.

Sunday, January 5, 9:55 PM

Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Aidan O'Connell completed 24 of 34 pass attempts for 214 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception during Sunday's Week 18 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. He also rushed four times for an additional 13 yards on the ground. O'Connell has delivered modest production over the last three weeks, tallying four passing touchdowns and one turnover during that span. He has benefitted from the breakout seasons of both Jakobi Meyers and Brock Bowers, but his production might not be enough to deter Vegas from selecting a quarterback in the 2025 NFL Draft. The Purdue product finished this year with a 63.6 percent completion rate, eight touchdowns, and six turnovers through parts of nine games. Dynasty managers should hold O'Connell on their rosters for now, as he'll be hard to sell but is a little too valuable to drop in leagues with 14 teams or more. From a redraft perspective, he'll trend down as long as the Raiders add a notable quarterback especially if it's a rookie during the upcoming months.