We want to be rational. We really do. But every once in a while, there is a quarterback that you just WANT to root for. Or root against. You aren’t always sure why, but everyone has them. 

They can be polarizing players like Tim Tebow, Taysom Hill, Justin Fields or Caleb Williams. They can be great “comeback” stories like Baker Mayfield or Geno Smith. Underdogs like Brock Purdy or Joshua Dobbs. Rookies like C.J. Stroud last year or Bo Nix this year. 

For me? Well, there’s only one hype train that I irrationally root for. And that’s the glorious creature known as Gardner Minshew.

And guess what? Minshew Mania OFFICIALLY lives on! Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce officially named Gardner Minshew the starting quarterback for 2024. That doesn’t mean he will keep the job all year, though, with Aiden O’Connell breathing down his neck. But we’ll at least get one more look at the larger-than-life character this year. 

Let’s see what bringing the traveling Minshew Circus to town might mean for the passing options. And for our 2024 fantasy football rankings!

*Editor's Note: Be sure to check out the Fantasy Alarm 2024 Fantasy Football NFL Draft Guide! With our bevy of articles, tools and expert insights, you can draft confidently knowing you're stocked with the best of the best. Snag your copy now!

 

 

Davante Adams

Davante Adams got a whopping 108 targets out of Aiden O’Connell’s 322 catchable targets last year. That’s an insane 33.5% – just over one third. So, you would think this might be a negative for Adams. But, in the games they were both healthy, Michael Pittman Jr. actually got 134 of Gardner Minshew’s 430 catchable targets. Which is around 31.2%. 

So, Adams could keep up his typical pace of 10 targets a game except, this time around, the targets should be of higher quality. Worst case, they go back to Aiden O’Connell and that’s still fine for Adams.

 

 

 

Jakobi Meyers

Jakobi Meyers is the guy who could feel the pain from the QB change here. First off, he already had rapport with Aiden O’Connell. It’s one thing if you are a superstar like Adams and the targets are a given, but it’s another when you have to actually compete for the ball. And now Meyers will be competing with rookie phenom tight end Brock Bowers. 

Josh Downs, operating out of the slot, did have a couple of big games with Minshew early on last season, but he failed to crack 53 yards in a game over the second half of the campaign. And one of his biggest target games, a 9-target game in Week 16, came in the week Michael Pittman was out. Meyers should still be “okay”, but he doesn’t really have a high ceiling. Though he never really has.

 

 

 

Brock Bowers

If Jakobi Meyers is hurt by the loss of his familiar QB, the unknown Brock Bowers is the beneficiary. Both Bowers and Minshew are brand new to the team so it’s a clean slate. Bowers is essentially just a big wide receiver himself so he could step directly into the number two target chair. Not to mention, Minshew targeted tight end on 20.6% of his attempts last year vs. O’Connell at only 14% in 2024, so Minshew did prefer the big boys. 

Neither team had a good pass-catching tight end room, but Michael Mayer and Austin Hooper were probably better than anything the Colts had, yet Minshew still targeted them more than O’Connell. Now the tight end room is loaded, so expect that percentage to be a lot higher.

 

 

 

Raiders Running Backs

Whenever a new QB wins the battle, I consider that exciting for the starting running back. Why? Well, we’ve seen what this offense looks like with O’Connell. It was fine. But maybe it can be even better with Minshew. The Colts were a bad drop by Tyler Goodson away from potentially making the playoffs, after all. 

And, if Minshew fails, we just get Aiden O’Connell back (who should be better in year two than year one as well). It’s just another level of unknown upside for a position whose success depends heavily on the overall quality of the offense. Zamir White is looking like the starter but there could be some upside down the depth chart. We know what Alexander Mattison is at this point – a serviceable but boring backup. 

The fun one is Dylan Laube, a pass-catching rookie out of the University of New Hampshire. Keep an eye on him to see if he can carve out a role. Minshew last year targeted RBs at 15.5% which is only slightly higher than O’Connell at 12.4%. But they also didn’t really have a true pass-down compliment to Josh Jacobs.