Sunday’s Steelers game should see Justin Fields squaring off against Gardner Minshew II for the Raiders, if status quo holds. Both have started all season for their respective teams, though in Fields’ case he hasn’t topped the depth chart. For Minshew, the Raiders have benched him twice in the past three games and he’s now competing for his job.
He is the more experienced player of the two, however, and the Steelers are familiar with him. He stood in the way of Joshua Dobbs starting for the Jaguars back in 2019, if you recall, as a rookie. They have played against Minshew as recently as last year, in fact, as the Colts’ starter. And they would have faced him two weeks ago instead of Joe Flacco if he were still there. If they see him in the Raiders’ Black and Silver on Sunday, though, Mike Tomlin will be ready.
“I know they’ve been rotating quarterbacks some over the first five weeks, but I got a lot of respect for [Gardner] Minshew”, Tomlin said during his press conference yesterday, via the Steelers’ website. “I’ve been in-stadium with him. I’ve just always appreciated his moxie and in-game savvy, his ability to extend [plays], his ability to utilize his legs in an effort to make things happen. Just this past Sunday, the first two third downs of the game he converted with his legs on two 11-yard runs as an example of that”.
Minshew signed a two-year, $25 million contract with the Raiders this offseason, including $15 million guaranteed. On the year, he is 99-of-140 for 1,014 yards with four touchdowns to five interceptions. Las Vegas is out to a 2-3 start and is scoring under 20 points per game.
On Sunday, Minshew went 12-of-17 for 137 yards, throwing one touchdown but two interceptions before the Raiders benched him. He also had two rushes for 22 yards, as Tomlin alluded two, converting third downs with his legs. Aidan O’Connell finished the game and won, going 10-of-20 for 94 yards and an interception.
Two weeks prior, Minshew went 18-of-28 for 214 yards with a touchdown and an interception before the Raiders benched him. O’Connell finished the game, going 9-of-12 for 82 yards and a touchdown. But the reality is when your team benches you twice in three weeks, you’re in trouble.
Gardner Minshew’s current numbers are actually atypical. He has a 3.6 interception percentage but just 1.9 for his career. Conversely, he has a career 4.0 touchdown percentage but is at just 2.9 this season. On the other hand, he is posting career-high accuracy numbers, though that is currently common around the league.
As for Minshew’s challenger, Aidan O’Connell, he is a second-year former fourth-round pick. He started 10 games for the Raiders last season, going 5-5, so they do have considerable familiarity with him. That season, he went 213-of-343 for 2,218 yards with 12 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. As of now, he has too small a sample size to comment on this year, but we’ll see how Sunday changes that.
