The Las Vegas Raiders made big changes to their organization on Halloween, firing HC Josh McDaniels and GM Dave Ziegler after the team’s 3-5 start to the season. Later that week, OC Mick Lombardi was also let go, while veteran QB Jimmy Garoppolo was benched in favor of rookie Aidan O’Connell.
Why Was Jimmy Garoppolo Benched?
O’Connell had gotten one start before Garoppolo was benched. The fourth-round pick started in Week 4 when Garoppolo was out with a concussion. O’Connell completed 24 of 29 passes for 238 yards with an interception and took seven sacks in the 24-17 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
When Garoppolo missed his second game of the season due to a back injury, McDaniels started veteran QB Brian Hoyer against the Chicago Bears. The veteran threw two interceptions and put up just 129 yards passing in the blowout loss on Oct. 22.
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The Raiders benched Garoppolo because he simply wasn’t performing well in his first season with the team. With Hoyer having performed so poorly, O’Connell was the best choice.
“He’s our best QB,” a Raiders source told NFL’s Ian Rapoport when asked about the switch to O’Connell.
In six starts, Garoppolo has posted a 3-3 record while completing 65.5 percent of his passes for 1,205 yards, seven touchdowns, and nine interceptions. He led the league in interceptions at the time, despite missing two games, and threw at least one pick in each of his six starts.
Garoppolo only delivered one 300-yard outing, which was when he passed for 324 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. In that same game, though, he was intercepted three times — a season-high mark for him.
He never threw for more than two touchdowns in all of his Raiders starts and ended up with a completion percentage of 65.5 percent — lower than any of his five seasons with the San Francisco 49ers.
Garoppolo went 10-of-21 for a season-low 126 yards and threw an interception in the Raiders’ 26-14 loss to the Detroit Lions on the Monday before the QB change. He was sacked six times and only connected with All-Pro WR Davante Adams once.
“You have good days and bad days, today was a bad day,” he said after the game. “No sugar-coating it. It is what it is, so just gotta play better, myself, I have to play better. There’s a bunch of little things, but that will solve a lot of problems.”
Interim HC Antonio Pierce and GM Champ Kelly confirmed that O’Connell would be the new QB1 on Nov. 1.
“We just feel like he gives us the best chance,” Pierce told reporters.
“The guys are rallying behind him,” Kelly added. “They are excited to watch him get his opportunity.”
Garoppolo joined Las Vegas this spring in a move that reunited him with McDaniels, the former New England Patriots offensive coordinator. The quarterback signed a three-year contract worth $67.5 million, but it was restructured before the start of the season.
In total this season, O’Connell has completed 63.8 percent of his pass attempts for 1,365 yards, four touchdowns, and seven picks.
After a 3-0 loss to the Vikings on Sunday, the Raiders currently sit at 5-8 and are likely out of playoff contention.
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