NFL Preseason insider notes: Raiders' growing belief in Aidan O'Connell, Browns' Dorian Thompson-Robinson gamble and more 

Bryce Young will be the Week 1 starter for the Carolina Panthers. Ditto for Anthony Richardson in Indianapolis. CJ Stroud will likely be the starter for Houston at the start of the season. Will Levis is likely to sit on the sidelines this season. And on and on and on.

The top four quarterbacks selected in the 2023 NFL Draft suck all the oxygen from the room. Yet it’s a pair of Day 3 picks, signal callers who participated in the Shrine Bowl, who are really turning heads for their respective franchises.

Just prior to the start of Shrine Bowl practices in January, I penned a story mentioning that several people in the league believed Aidan O’Connell of Purdue would ultimately be the top quarterback to come out of the 2023 NFL Draft.

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Aidan O'Connell already impressing Raiders brass in new QB era for Las Vegas

The reasoning was simple - O’Connell combined great leadership skills and field vision with many of the same physical gifts the top quarterbacks in the draft brought to the game. They pointed to his two-year stewardship as Boilermakers quarterback, in which O’Connell accrued 17 victories and a trip to the Big Ten title game. Scouts loved the poise, maturity and leadership O’Connell showed in the lead up to the draft.

So far the Las Vegas Raiders, who selected O’Connell in the fourth round, agree.

General manager Dave Ziegler has been crowing about O’Connell to people, saying that the rookie quarterback has surpassed expectations in the early stages. Veteran receivers, including Davante Adams, have been complimentary of the Purdue product.

The lack of mobility was the big concern around O’Connell’s game, yet his ability to quickly process what’s happening on the field and immediately make proper decisions has alleviated much of that. And O’Connell has been deadly accurate through most of camp and the preseason.

Unlike Young and Richardson, O’Connell won’t be the Week 1 starter; that will be Jimmy Garoppolo. Yet sources tell me the Raiders won’t hesitate to put O’Connell on the field if Garoppolo struggles at any point in the season.

The other Shrine Bowl quarterback drawing rave reviews is Dorian Thompson-Robinson, selected a round after O’Connell by the Cleveland Browns.

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Browns' Dorian Thompson-Robinson gamble starting to pay off

Just like O’Connell, this should not come as a surprise. After the UCLA pro day last March, I reported that one team told me, “Thompson-Robinson will be the best value at the quarterback in this year’s draft. Take him in the fourth round, correctly coach him, and he could be a big-time starter.”

A lot of teams didn’t know what to make of DTR. Was he an RPO, run-first signal caller? Would he consistently play from the pocket? And what about that seemingly aloof personality?

The smart teams and bright scouts looked deep into the film as well as the personality and saw a potential gem at the quarterback position. What may have seemed to be a run-first quarterback was actually a physically gifted passer with terrific football intellect who improvised when plays broke down and left the pocket only when necessary. The “aloof” attitude? Not at all; DTR is an accomplished artist with a very creative mind who is well-liked by his teammates.

So what’s the feeling about the UCLA product in Cleveland? In a nutshell, the franchise couldn’t be happier.

The front office have told people DTR is, “Everything they’ve hoped for, and more.” His play in the field has been brilliant in the pre-season and DTR has been great in the locker room coming across as a very likable guy.

Playing behind Deshaun Watson and his massive contract is not ideal for a quarterback with starting aspirations- yet it could work out for Thompson-Robinson. He’ll have the luxury of slowly developing his game and there won’t be any pressure to start early on.

What are the Browns’ goals for DTR? They simply want him to be the clear cut #2 quarterback. If he’s able to grab hold of that spot there will be no need for the franchise to pay a pricey veteran to be the back-up. If Watson goes down with injury would the Browns be comfortable inserting Thompson-Robinson into the line-up? I’m told the answer is yes.

It’s a good situation for both player and franchise. Dorian Thompson-Robinson can grow into a starting NFL quarterback without the pressure of starting and the Browns could have a good problem on their hands in two years.