Photo: Staff Sgt. Ariel OShea, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons²

Aidan O'Connell

Quarterback, Las Vegas Raiders · #12.

Player facts

Team: Las Vegas Raiders
Position: Quarterback
Number: 12
Born: Sep 1, 1998 (age 28)
Birthplace: Long Grove, IL, USA
Height: 6' 3"
Weight: 206 lbs
College: Purdue
Experience: 4 seasons
Status: Active

Stats

2026 Stats

	CMP	ATT	CMP%	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	LNG	SACK	RTG	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LNG
Regular Season	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Career	377	608	62.0	3,932	6.5	20	11	58	35	84.1	39	48	1.2	2	13

About

Aidan James O'Connell (born September 1, 1998) is an American professional football quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Purdue Boilermakers and was selected by the Raiders in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL draft.

From Wikipedia’s article on Aidan O'Connell, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.¹

Background

Early life

O'Connell was born on September 1, 1998, and grew up in Long Grove, Illinois. O'Connell is the middle child of five brothers: Sean, Patrick, Liam, and Seamus. He also has one sister, Grace.

O'Connell played high school football and basketball for Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois. He was not a highly recruited Illinois high school athlete, as his only scholarship offer came from Davenport University, a Division II school. In 2016, his only season as a starter, he threw for a school record 2,741 yards and 26 touchdowns.

College career

On February 3, 2017, O'Connell committed to play college football for Wheaton College, but less than a month later, he accepted a preferred walk-on spot with Purdue.

After not playing in 2017 and 2018, he played in six games in 2019 and started three. He made his first career start against Northwestern, completing 34 of 50 passes for 271 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Overall that season, he completed 103 of 164 passes for 1,101 yards with eight touchdowns and four interceptions. O'Connell entered 2020 as the starter before suffering a season-ending injury after three games. He completed 88 of 136 passes for 916 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. O'Connell entered 2021 as the backup to Jack Plummer, but eventually took over as the starter and completed 315 of 440 passes for 3,712 yards with 28 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He decided to enter the 2023 NFL draft after the 2022 season. In the 2022 season, he passed for 3,490 yards, 22 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions to go with a rushing touchdown.