NFL QB competition check-in: Gardner Minshew wins Raiders job, while AFC West rival's best choice seems clear

Charles McDonald

Over time, the NFL has lost the art of the quarterback battle. There haven’t been many true fights between players competing for starting QB positions, but this year was a smidge different. There were a few situations this year that had teams letting quarterbacks duke it out, with a real deal quarterback battle just now coming to a close in Las Vegas.

Gardner Minshew II and Aidan O’Connell had a true quarterback battle that came to a close after the Raiders’ second preseason game. Head coach Antonio Pierce described the contest succinctly following the Raiders' 27-12 loss at the hands of the Cowboys: “I wish it had ended well for both gentlemen, but it didn’t.”

Minshew and O’Connell combined to complete 24 of their 41 passing attempts against the Cowboys for just 191 yards (4.7 yards an attempt).

Pierce eventually named Minshew as the Raiders' starter, but it’s hard to be bullish on Las Vegas right now after the preseason performance that the team put together. Maybe the defense can overcome whatever the offensive output ends up being, but this is not a successful recipe for a team that has to play Patrick Mahomes twice a season.

This one might not really be a quarterback battle. By all accounts, Russell Wilson will be the starter for the Steelers barring injury.

Justin Fields had an opportunity to steal the job while Wilson rehabbed from injury, but he took too many negative plays during the preseason. Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that there really has never been a battle here and Wilson has been locked in as the starter all the way.

The only thing that seems like it would change this is an injury in-season or dramatically poorer play than anyone expected from Wilson.

This one is fascinating because it seems like it could go in either direction.

Jacoby Brissett has not been the best version of himself this preseason, but he has played good football in recent years and has proven himself to be a capable starter in a pinch. Drake Maye, the third overall selection in the draft this year, finally got an extended chance to play last week and showed all the high-upside plays that had people enthralled with him prior to the draft.

Maye’s box score of 47 yards on 11 attempts doesn’t tell the whole story. He had a deep dime down the field that was dropped and looked good scrambling when he had to. New England's offensive personnel is not a setup that’s conducive toward having a great rookie year, but perhaps it will be OK due to Maye’s playmaking.

The Patriots might opt to sit him for a bit so he can learn behind Brissett, but either decision is fully defensible and understandable. Now it’s just time to wait and see what happens with Maye.

Sorry, Zach Wilson. You’re not really a factor here. It’s fair to wonder how much Stidham is even a factor here.

Bo Nix has been the Broncos’ best quarterback this preseason by a wide margin and head coach Sean Payton has been hyping him up for awhile now. It feels like a forgone conclusion that Nix will wind up the starter, even though that announcement hasn’t been made yet. Now, it’s time to see if Nix’s experience as a starter in college will help him get off to a fast start in the NFL.

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