Who Should I Start? Kyle Allen or Aidan O'Connell

Sunday, August 24, 9:13 AM

Detroit Lions quarterback Kyle Allen completed all five of his pass attempts for 66 yards and a touchdown in the team's preseason finale on Saturday against the Houston Texans. Allen was removed from the game in the first half after playing just two offensive series, which indicates that the 29-year-old's role with the team is secure. Allen has played well this preseason, completing 35 of his 44 pass attempts for 401 yards and five touchdowns. He is a lock to open the season as the Lions' QB2 behind Jared Goff.

Wednesday, November 19, 3:15 PM

The Las Vegas Raiders announced on Wednesday that they activated quarterback Aidan O'Connell (wrist) from Injured Reserve. O'Connell has missed all of the 2025 season to this point after suffering a fractured right wrist in the preseason. It's possible that Geno Smith's poor play could open the door for O'Connell to make starts under center for the Raiders before the end of the year, but it's unclear if that's potentially in play as early as Week 12 when the team takes on the visiting Cleveland Browns this Sunday. Kenny Pickett has been serving as Smith's backup for the first 11 weeks of the season, but O'Connell could quickly jump him on the depth chart now that he's back. The 27-year-old has a 62.6% completion rate in his two years in the NFL, throwing for 3,830 yards, 20 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions in 20 games (17 starts).