No. 2 job not a long shot for Raiders’ Tui

By Anthony Carroll  |   Monday, May 26, 2008  |  Comments( 16 )

Oakland Raiders
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Desperate times call for desperate measures. The Oakland Raiders made that clear when they opted to bring back an old friend Thursday afternoon.

Oakland signed quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo to a contract to bring him back for the 2008 campaign. The ex-Washington Huskies quarterback and 2001 Rose Bowl MVP was drafted by the Raiders seven years ago.

The former second-rounder parted ways with the Raiders for the first time in his NFL career last season when he left for a one-year, $595,000 contract to join the New York Jets. In New York, Tuiasosopo didn’t attempt a single pass, stuck behind both veteran Chad Pennington and 24-year-old Kellen Clemens on the depth chart.

That’s been the story of his career -- stuck in the backseat.

The 220-pound passer came to Oakland when Rich Gannon was at the helm in 2001. From that point until leaving prior to the ‘07 campaign, Tuiasosopo watched five different quarterbacks -- Gannon, Rick Mirer, Kerry Collins, Aaron Brooks and Andrew Walter -- all get starting nods over him by four different head coaches (Jon Gruden, Bill Callahan, Norv Turner and Art Shell).

Tuiasosopo stayed with Oakland for six seasons, appeared in just 11 of a possible 96 games and started only two. His career stat line reads: 48 completions on 88 pass attempts for 550 yards, two touchdowns and seven interceptions.

This time around, though, Tuiasosopo may have walked into a little better situation.

Even with all camp fodder included, the 29-year-old veteran is three years older than any of the other five quarterbacks currently on the roster. Of those four, the two expected to make the cut -- starter JaMarcus Russell and Walter -- have six and four fewer years of experience than Tuiasosopo, respectively.

The Seattle native attended the team’s offseason practice Thursday, but he was dressed in street clothes and spent most of the time talking with quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo while there.

“Tui” will almost instantly begin competing for the immediate backup job behind 2007 first-rounder Russell. Walter, who started eight games in 2006, is the other candidate for the job. The ex-Arizona State standout has thrown 284 career passes, completed 152 of them and racked up 1,715 yards, three TDs and 13 picks.

In ‘06, Walter was given the starting nod ahead of Tuiasosopo when the team was looking for a change at quarterback. Walter started half the season; Tuiasosopo started none of it. Shell was evaluating the talent then, however (yes, the man who moved Robert Gallery to left tackle). At that time, too, the wave of “start Walter” cries from fans was overwhelming.

Now, with Russell at the helm and a half-season flop in Walter’s past, there’ll be much less pressure on Lane Kiffin in electing who will be the best fit to become the team’s No. 2 quarterback.

With the hopes of being No. 1 far off in the distance for Tuiasosopo, there’s no doubt he’d be fine settling for a No. 2 job. This time around, he may be the most qualified applicant on Oakland’s roster.

Anthony Carroll can be contacted at
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About Anthony Carroll

Anthony Carroll began writing for RealFootball365.com on Sept. 26, 2005, making him one of the longest tenured contributors to the “365” team. As a senior writer, Anthony has taken on the task of delivering original content to the silver and black faithful year round, despite having to deal...
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CommentsComments: 16  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
bardley80		01:20 AM
05/26/2008
Not exactly Unitas, Montana and Favre that he's competing with for the Raiders' No.2 QB spot, huh? Andrew Walter? Who else do...
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No.2
RaiderSensation		01:30 AM
05/26/2008
I'm still shocked that Tui came back and that Al let him. He is not the "veteran" presence that should mentor JaMarcus.
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No.3
07:24 AM
05/26/2008
I prefer Walter over Tui. Walter was injured in his rookie season. In his second year, his real ''rookie'' year, he started 8...
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