The O'Connell thread - love him or hate him or indifferent, put it in here
Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2026 6:02 am
Looks ripped and ready!
Aidan walking into the facility yesterday
Aidan walking into the facility yesterday
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Aidan seems a nice guy, comes across a bit goofy but a nice guy. His press conferences from the one's I have watched he is articulate and very inoffensive. All good qualities. He is also a luxury as the third guy off the bench at his price currently. What he does well is in the pocket with the short to intermediate passes. He is not especially accurate but he is not a dud either. I don't know how he does on the sidelines going to the screen to look at the plays from the previous series. If he does that well, great, that is what Mendoza needs. He needs guys in his ear that not only can see the game but articulate the plays well. That is where the value lies with your third string on this team. And nobody knows the answer to that. The only guys who do are his coaches because they will see it in the QB room. If he stays or leaves, I care not one bit. What I do care about is how quickly we can get Mendoza from rookie seeing the game to Mendoza processing the speed of the game. That is all I care about. But I never want to see him step onto a field. If he stays, his value is on the sidelines and in the QB room. Not on the field. If he is strong there, then I don't care one bit about him on the team. If he is not, there is not one thing I want more than to see him out the door. But there is no rush, he is not costing us anything until preseason is over. At max he makes around 19K for those six or so weeks. After that, make a decision and either move on or he moves on.SkullCrusher wrote: Wed May 06, 2026 8:19 am There's like 58 QB's that could fit this bill, its super hard rating this years QB's, so lets drop this year and we're at 48 possible QB's, some already gone from the league.
AOC being at 12 is something.
Yeah he's not good enough, but it seems around 35 QB's have done worse.
If we didn't have Brady to throw out there, it seems mid-late round QB's are just wasted picks. Like 1 in a 100.
He's #12 on the list of QBs on their rookie contract.SkullCrusher wrote: Wed May 06, 2026 9:31 am ^Yep. I was just sharing some perspective on how many QB's come into the league and imo it's a bit amazing he's 12 on the list of so many, tells you a lot about no depth in this league. We know he's not good enough to be the starter.
yep, and there are two on this list that have not even taken a snap yet. The lists like this one usually don't mean too much.
I’m pretty sure they meant he is 12th among QBs named Aidan AND on a rookie contract.SkullCrusher wrote: Wed May 06, 2026 8:19 am There's like 58 QB's that could fit this bill, its super hard rating this years QB's, so lets drop this year and we're at 48 possible QB's, some already gone from the league.
AOC being at 12 is something.
Yeah he's not good enough, but it seems around 35 QB's have done worse.
If we didn't have Brady to throw out there, it seems mid-late round QB's are just wasted picks. Like 1 in a 100.
I know out of nearly 50 drafted in the past 5 years, he's 12.
how many drafted before his draft number were drafted higher? I imagine there are a number of busts on the list, Richardson stands out in my mind. But in his draft alone, three guys were drafted above him that were specifically drafted as developmental QBs. Aidan was as well, but got pressed into service. Two guys above him in his class have seen maybe a handful of snaps. 2024's draft has a couple guys, again, people who were not drafted very high. But the guys drafted high, they are all on the list above him. 2025 is the same, high guys are on the list, low guys are not. Aidan has outproduced his draft status, no doubt. But given that guys like Hooker and Milroe were not guys who were that great at all in college it really is no surprise. O'Connell gave us 7 wins over 3 years. That makes guys like Levis perhaps over drafted. I don't think the story is over for him. Both guys are on bad teams. Both guys got pushed to the bench where they belong.SkullCrusher wrote: Wed May 06, 2026 11:24 am I know out of nearly 50 drafted in the past 5 years, he's 12.
One of those wins was against the chargers that literally did not play football that game they quit on their coach in the most grand fashion possible they stop competing in a game and he was fired immediately after.Attyla wrote: Wed May 06, 2026 12:37 pm how many drafted before his draft number were drafted higher? I imagine there are a number of busts on the list, Richardson stands out in my mind. But in his draft alone, three guys were drafted above him that were specifically drafted as developmental QBs. Aidan was as well, but got pressed into service. Two guys above him in his class have seen maybe a handful of snaps. 2024's draft has a couple guys, again, people who were not drafted very high. But the guys drafted high, they are all on the list above him. 2025 is the same, high guys are on the list, low guys are not. Aidan has outproduced his draft status, no doubt. But given that guys like Hooker and Milroe were not guys who were that great at all in college it really is no surprise. O'Connell gave us 7 wins over 3 years. That makes guys like Levis perhaps over drafted. I don't think the story is over for him. Both guys are on bad teams. Both guys got pushed to the bench where they belong.
FYI I counted like 6 or 7 who were drafted above him that were not on the list but I only went back to his draft. We like to think that QBs get drafted at a high rate but once the elite of a class gets taken, the QBs taken after that group really drop off a lot like way down the list.
And dont forget the lovely game against the tanking Chiefs last year where he went 10 for 22, 102 yards, 45.5 Cmp%, 0 TDs and 0 Ints.AdamJoshua28 wrote: Wed May 06, 2026 3:23 pm One of those wins was against the chargers that literally did not play football that game they quit on their coach in the most grand fashion possible they stop competing in a game and he was fired immediately after.
But he’s a nice guy!BoKnows81 wrote: Wed May 06, 2026 3:29 pm And dont forget the lovely game against the tanking Chiefs last year where he went 10 for 22, 102 yards, 45.5 Cmp%, 0 TDs and 0 Ints.
So, 5 wins in 3 years as far as im concerned. He's garbage. He's not even worthy of QB3 on this team.
That even makes it worse. I'd rather him be a dick since he lacks everywhere else.
It would make it easier.BoKnows81 wrote: Wed May 06, 2026 3:55 pm That even makes it worse. I'd rather him be a dick since he lacks everywhere else.
Pitcher of record is a thing. If we give another former QB of the team credit for his wins, worthy or not, you have to be consistent and give Aiden his. I agree that there are wins that a QB does not deserveBoKnows81 wrote: Wed May 06, 2026 3:29 pm And dont forget the lovely game against the tanking Chiefs last year where he went 10 for 22, 102 yards, 45.5 Cmp%, 0 TDs and 0 Ints.
So, 5 wins in 3 years as far as im concerned. He's garbage. He's not even worthy of QB3 on this team.