-- Aidan O’Connell starting...
I’m not a huge fan (as a scout), but he’s OK. My thoughts on his debut today...
1: He played solidly in the preseason...not the ‘next Tom Brady’ that the media proclaimed (again, these are the same people way into Bryce Young)...but he was fine/solid/promising...not over his head.
2: Most decent rookie QBs are walking into the NFL and not having any real issues...except Bryce Young. O’Connell probably won’t be in over his head...and the LAC pass defense is awful.
3: Most ‘surprise’ QB debuts are going fairly well as of late...the defenses aren’t prepared for ‘the new thing’ they haven’t seen a bunch.
4: If O’Connell comes in and throws for 250+ yards and 2+ TDs, in an upset win, and Bryce Young flops in a loss...how could the football community look at themselves in the mirror tomorrow?
5: Davante Adams projections have to come down. O’Connell can’t have the same pitch & catch, veteran experience with Adams right away – but Adams can still be as-good or maybe even better with volume here...especially if LV gets down and O’Connell has to throw 50+ times to keep up with Herbert.
6: Jakobi Meyers projections come down, but he might shock via being the receiver the defense isn’t ganging up on and O’Connell doesn’t know he’s supposed to throw it to Adams every time.
A good morning to try and get Meyers ‘buy low’ for fears of the rookie QB taking over here...and the general disbelief in Meyers...because he’s not an exciting rookie or 2nd-year hopeful.
7: Tre Tucker could have a moment as a guy O’C would have experience with on the 2nd-team type work.
8: This game should be a shootout/no defense/high scoring. LV’s best CB is out (Hobbs), so Keenan Allen will extra go off.
-- Cordarrelle Patterson ACTIVE...likely affects Tyler Allgeier but could affect Bijan Robinson as well.
-- Jamal Agnew OUT for the London game, so too was Zay Jones already OUT and they have Elijah Cooks inactive. JAX WR Tim Jones becomes the super-sleeper of the morning.
-- Deebo set to play today...good for Aiyuk, Kittle.
-- No Elijah Mitchell likely...Jordan Mason is in play as the new CMC cuff for not only today, but maybe longer...and he is good.
-- If David Njoku is out with his ‘burns’ issue...Jordan Akins could be an interesting sleeper for a TD this week.
-- Derek Carr likely to play today...a bump for shorter passes to Rashid Shaheed and Alvin Kamara...but also Michael Thomas. Chris Olave may be down some this week. And more Taysom Hill?
-- No weather issues detected anywhere.
