By: Tashan Reed, Vic Tafur and RJ Kraft
Desmond Ridder will start at quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders in Monday night’s game against the Atlanta Falcons with Aidan O’Connell inactive and designated as the team’s emergency third quarterback. Ridder will be the third starter at the position for Las Vegas this season — Gardner Minshew II started nine games before suffering a season-ending collarbone injury and O’Connell has made four starts.
All week coach Antonio Pierce maintained that if O’Connell couldn’t go, it would be Ridder under center. O’Connell missed three straight practices this week and was listed as questionable. O’Connell, who has thrown for 899 yards and completed 63.2 percent his passes with four touchdowns and three interceptions this season, was carted off the field in Week 14.
Rookie Carter Bradley will be the team’s backup and he was signed to the roster last week.
The lack of definitive pronouncement of a starter ahead of the game was likely a move of gamesmanship to keep Atlanta preparing for two quarterbacks. Raiders interim offensive coordinator Scott Turner prepared two gameplans this week — one geared toward O’Connell and another for Ridder.
“They’re different types of players,” Turner said last week. “You try to play to your guys strengths, so we’ll be ready. … We’ll have basically two types of plans ready to play to each guy’s strength, depending on which way it goes.”
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For Ridder, the start comes against his old team, who drafted the Cincinnati product in the third round of the 2022 draft. He compiled an 8-9 record as a starter over two seasons in Atlanta before being traded to the Arizona Cardinals in March. Las Vegas signed Ridder off of Arizona’s practice squad in October.
Ridder got all of the first-team reps in practice last week. Pierce said he’s talked to Ridder about maintaining his composure despite playing against his old team.
“You’ve got to take the emotional part out of it,” Pierce said last week. “It’s not Desmond versus the Atlanta Falcons. It’s the Raiders versus the Atlanta Falcons, and he understands that. Listen, just do your job as a quarterback. We don’t need you to be Superman and go out there and win it by yourself. It’s a team sport. Understand what we’re trying to do with the game plan, if it is Desmond. But more importantly, don’t make it an individual matchup, right? That’s in your past. You’ve moved on, got a great opportunity here. Worry about that.”
Ridder has appeared in four games with the Raiders. He’s completed 28 of 44 passes for 239 yards, one touchdown, zero interceptions and has also fumbled three times. In his career, the 25-year-old has thrown for 3,783 yards, 15 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
“There’s some times where I feel like I do too much in that category, where I run myself into a zero-yard sack, a zero-gain sack, instead of just sitting in the pocket and waiting for something to develop,” Ridder said Wednesday. “So, those are still some of the things where I’m learning of timing and patience and presence to be able to go out there and play my best.”
With the end of the season approaching, the Raiders will need to explore their options to make an upgrade at quarterback next offseason. Following Sunday’s results, the Raiders hold the No. 2 pick (pending Monday’s result) in the 2025 NFL Draft. Las Vegas has a 30 percent chance at the top selection, according to Austin Mock’s model.
Las Vegas will be without three-time Pro Bowl defensive end Maxx Crosby, who is undergoing season-ending surgery to address an ankle injury. Defensive end Charles Snowden was also inactive following last week’s arrest on suspicion of DUI.
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(Photo: Ian Maule / Getty Images)
