The man behind the mustache, who is Gardner Minshew?

Getting some inside information on the Raiders new quarterback from our friends at Stampede Blue

One of the Las Vegas Raiders’ first and most interesting moves so far in free agency has been signing former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Gardner Minshew to a two-year, $25 million contract. Naturally, questions about Minshew have popped up within Raider Nation, so we reached out to our friends at Stampede Blue and Chris Shepherd was kind enough to answer a few questions about the Washington State product.

Question: Of course, Anthony Richardson is the Colts’ future under center, but was there any thought to the organization bringing Minshew back in the offseason? Why or why not?

Answer: A lot of people hoped the team would bring him back in the backup role. No one who actually watched the games and is telling the truth would tell you that Minshew was better than Richardson, even in Richardson’s first NFL starts, but ultimately the team finished the season with a winning record and with even an average defense would have gone to the playoffs with Minshew starting the majority of the Colts 2023 games. You can’t ask for much more from your backup.

Q: Minshew is walking into a situation where he could be a mentor for Aidan O’Connell or a rookie quarterback, similar to his situation with Richardson last year. How did he do in that role and with his leadership in general?

A: Richardson talked a lot about how much he learned from Minshew. He noted Minshew’s film study and the work he put in behind the scenes. Richardson said their relationship was great and that as much as he wished he was playing he was happy for Gardner.

From the outside, Minshew was the perfect backup. He was always supporting the rookie and going over things on the tablet on the sidelines. After Minshew took over he was the guy. He led the team and acted the way a starter should. You can tell his teammates like him and I think it’s because Minshew is aware of who and what he is.

Q: What would you say Minshew’s biggest strength is and, schematically, how can an offense best cater to his skill set?

Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

His biggest strength has to be RPO concepts. Shane Steichen’s offense lived on the RPO and more often than not Minshew made the right reads and executed accordingly. RPOs are generally “easy” reads but even still Minshew excels when needing to make split-second reads and decisions over the middle of the field.

Q: How much of an issue is his lack of arm strength and/or how much does that limit him?

A: It was severely limiting. With that said, it was limiting in large part because Shane Steichen didn’t want to live on the RPO. A big chunk of the playbook is just deep-passing concepts. Second-year receiver Alec Pierce, at one point late in the season, had run more yards during his routes than any other receiver in the NFL, due to his constant deep routes.

Despite Pierce’s efforts Minshew rarely looked his way deep downfield. Most weeks there was at least one clip that made the rounds on Colts Twitter of Alec Pierce running wide open 30+ yards downfield with Minshew dumping the ball off instead.

Minshew can’t consistently hit those throws so he tends to just not even work those routes. Minshew knows who he is and plays to his potential because of that.

Q: In your opinion, can Minshew blossom into a starting-caliber quarterback in the NFL?

A: First let me say I really like Gardner Minshew. I was disappointed when I saw that he signed with Vegas. With that said, the answer to your question is no.

Minshew is, in my opinion, a different version of a guy like Jacoby Brissett. He’s a great guy, a good leader and just good enough when he gets on the field to be more than just a backup. He isn’t just a backup but he isn’t the starter that any NFL team should strive for either. He might be one of the 32 best quarterbacks on the planet but I’m not sure of that and that’s not really where you want to be at the position.

But can he develop? He’s started 37 games in his NFL career. In his last 17 starts (four with Philly, 13 with Indy) Minshew played behind very good offensive lines. Despite that Minshew, when not executing an RPO, often held the ball too long and had a habit of escaping clean pockets. His arm strength remains an issue and isn’t likely to improve at this point. He generally plays it safe and outside of a really rough four-game stretch last season, has done a great job limiting turnovers. He is a decent athlete but isn’t special and is terrifying when operating outside of the pocket.

If Minshew were going to develop into a starter, it would have happened by now. In my opinion, Minshew was at his peak a season ago and Shane Steichen’s offense deserves a lot of credit. The Raiders could do much worse than Gardner Minshew but I’m sorry to say you’ll all hope to do much better than him if he is in fact your Week 1 starter. And I say this as a guy who is very appreciative of what Minshew did for the Colts a season ago.