The fiercest quarterback competition of the summer has been decided, and it’s officially Minshew Mania time in Sin City.
Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce named Gardner Minshew Las Vegas’ starting quarterback entering the season as the veteran beat Aidan O’Connell to secure the job.
So, what does Minshew under center mean for the Raiders odds?
Well, oddsmakers still aren’t huge fans of Las Vegas’ chances entering the season.
The Raiders have the seventh-worst odds to win the Super Bowl at +10000 according to DraftKings. That’s the fourth-worst of any AFC team ahead of only the Titans (+15000), Patriots (+18000) and Broncos (+30000). They’re also +6000 to win the AFC and +900 to capture the AFC West crown.
Las Vegas’ win total is set at 6.5, and are -130 to go over and +110 to finish over. They’re also +300 to make the playoffs and -400 to miss them. The Raiders kickoff the season at SoFi Stadium as a 3-point underdogs against the rival Chargers.
Meanwhile, Action Network’s director of predictive analytics Sean Koerner doesn’t see much difference between Minshew and O’Connell under center. While Minshew certainly has more experience, starting games for the Jaguars, Eagles and Colts over his six-year career, they each have the same value (0) against the spread among all 117 quarterbacks.
Minshew took over as the Colts’ starting quarterback last year after Anthony Richardson suffered a season-ending injury. He completed 305-of-490 passes (62.2%) for 3,305 yards, 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
