The Las Vegas Raiders have been a very interesting subject of focus all throughout the 2023 NFL offseason because of what has been going on with the quarterback situation. It all started during the 2022 regular season when the team decided to bench Derek Carr and replace him with Jarrett Stidham.

After Carr’s benching, they would go on to release him and he would sign with the New Orleans Saints. They would then bring in former Patriots draft pick and 49ers starter Jimmy Garoppolo, who obviously has plenty of familiarity with the staff and system in Vegas.

Garoppolo’s arrival brought with it even more question marks about whether the Raiders would still be in on quarterbacks in the 2023 NFL Draft.

They passed on quarterbacks throughout the first three rounds of the 2023 Draft, but at the end of round four, they pounced on sleeper QB Aidan O’Connell in a 4th round trade. Las Vegas gave up picks No. 144 and 214 to select O’Connell with the last pick of the fourth round.

O’Connell, who’ll turn 25 in September, didn’t take a top-30 visit to the Raiders’ facility before the draft, but he still made a lasting impression on general manager Dave Ziegler, coach Josh McDaniels and the rest of the front office throughout the scouting process.

That impression was so good that McDaniels is already comparing the guy to Tom Brady.

Most of McDaniels’ success as a coach came with a late-round quarterback leading his offense, which was Tom Brady. However, it would be unwise to put that sort of pressure on O’Connell. He has a long way to go just to become a primary backup, let alone a starter.

The 24-year-old spent five years in college at Purdue. He was a part-time starter in 2019 and spent the 2020 season hurt before winning the starting job in 2021. He then started his final two years for the Boilermakers and enjoyed success with the team.

His 2021 season saw him complete 71.6 percent of his passes for 3,712 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. However, he would take a step back in 2022 as he completed 64.1 percent of his passes for 3,490 yards, 22 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions.

The Raiders liked O’Connell enough to make him the 135th pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and it seems likely that he will be the team’s backup quarterback.

To be Brady is a tough task for any QB that likely will never be duplicated.