Aidan O’Connell’s sensational NFL debut has fans buzzing about Raiders QB’s potential - “He's the real deal”

Aidan O'Connell started his NFL journey with the Las Vegas Raiders as the team selected him in the fourth round of this year's draft. The rookie will likely see some playing time this preseason as he impressed in his NFL debut.

The quarterback threw for 141 yards on 15 of 18 passing for touchdowns against the San Francisco 49ers. Fans took to Reddit to share how impressed they were with O'Connell in his first action in the league:

Comment by u/Barian_Fostate from discussion [Tashan Reed] O'Connell's day is done. He completed 15-of-18 passes (two drops) for 141 yards and one touchdown. He took just one sack and didn't turn the ball over. Nice debut for the #Raiders' rookie. in nfl

Comment by u/harknation from discussion [Tashan Reed] O'Connell's day is done. He completed 15-of-18 passes (two drops) for 141 yards and one touchdown. He took just one sack and didn't turn the ball over. Nice debut for the #Raiders' rookie. in nfl

Comment by u/Street_Plate_6461 from discussion [Tashan Reed] O'Connell's day is done. He completed 15-of-18 passes (two drops) for 141 yards and one touchdown. He took just one sack and didn't turn the ball over. Nice debut for the #Raiders' rookie. in nfl

Comment by u/eddie2911 from discussion [Tashan Reed] O'Connell's day is done. He completed 15-of-18 passes (two drops) for 141 yards and one touchdown. He took just one sack and didn't turn the ball over. Nice debut for the #Raiders' rookie. in nfl

Comment by u/HemlockMartinis from discussion [Tashan Reed] O'Connell's day is done. He completed 15-of-18 passes (two drops) for 141 yards and one touchdown. He took just one sack and didn't turn the ball over. Nice debut for the #Raiders' rookie. in nfl

Comment by u/RatherBeInThePond from discussion [Tashan Reed] O'Connell's day is done. He completed 15-of-18 passes (two drops) for 141 yards and one touchdown. He took just one sack and didn't turn the ball over. Nice debut for the #Raiders' rookie. in nfl

Comment by u/Consistent-Spell2203 from discussion [Tashan Reed] O'Connell's day is done. He completed 15-of-18 passes (two drops) for 141 yards and one touchdown. He took just one sack and didn't turn the ball over. Nice debut for the #Raiders' rookie. in nfl

However, there are a handful of fans that are comparing O'Connell to an NFL legend and speculating that he could be the Raiders' starter in the future.

Comment by u/YouBetterChill from discussion [Tashan Reed] O'Connell's day is done. He completed 15-of-18 passes (two drops) for 141 yards and one touchdown. He took just one sack and didn't turn the ball over. Nice debut for the #Raiders' rookie. in nfl

Comment by u/flashpile from discussion [Tashan Reed] O'Connell's day is done. He completed 15-of-18 passes (two drops) for 141 yards and one touchdown. He took just one sack and didn't turn the ball over. Nice debut for the #Raiders' rookie. in nfl

Comment by u/quikfrozt from discussion [Tashan Reed] O'Connell's day is done. He completed 15-of-18 passes (two drops) for 141 yards and one touchdown. He took just one sack and didn't turn the ball over. Nice debut for the #Raiders' rookie. in nfl

O'Connell played the majority of the game as Jimmy Garoppolo didn't take a snap against the San Francisco 49ers, his former team.

In an interview with Per Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk, Aidan O'Connell spoke on his experience versus the 49ers in the Raiders' preseason debut:

“Definitely some things to work on still, but it was fun to be out there, live action and bullets are really flying. It’s a little different when you play quarterback, even if you practice against another team that can’t tackle you in practice and they can now," O'Connell said.

He added:

“[You] just kind of hope to go out there and do your best and see what happens. I’m not worried about the stats. There’s more things than just the stats, and especially responsibility in the run game and stuff like that that I know I need to improve on. So, I know I have a lot of work to go still.”

The 24-year-old currently sits behind Garoppolo and veteran Brian Hoyer on the Las Vegas Raiders depth chart.

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Aidan O'Connell and his college career pre-Raiders

He had quite a college career at Purdue as one of the program's best quarterbacks.

In his final season with the Boilermakers, he threw for 3,490 yards, 22 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions.

The signal-caller finished second in the Big 10 in passing yards and third in touchdowns in the 2022 season. He left Purdue in the top 10 in school history in passing yards and in the top five in touchdowns.