Desperate Raiders need Russell

By Connor Byrne  |   Thursday, August 02, 2007  |  Comments( 56 )

Oakland Raiders
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Face it, the Oakland Raiders are desperate at the quarterback situation. If they weren't, they wouldn't have just signed Daunte Culpepper to a one-year contract. The Raiders drafted former LSU star JaMarcus Russell No. 1 overall in April because they wanted him to become the starter right away, but the 6-foot-6, 260-pound behemoth is in the midst of a lengthy holdout that currently appears to have no end in sight.

Culpepper, 6-4, 265, shared a lot of Russell's traits earlier in his career. The eight-year veteran was incredible for most of his tenure with the Minnesota Vikings, even winning MVP honors in a 39-touchdown 2004 campaign, but he suffered a devastating knee injury in '05 and hasn't been nearly the same since.

The 30-year-old started four games last year for the Miami Dolphins, by whom he was acquired in a much-ballyhooed offseason trade in the winter of 2006, and was terrible in the process.

Culpepper's most obvious sign of decay was a Week 2 loss against the Buffalo Bills, whose less-than-fearsome defense sacked the ex-Central Florida standout seven times in a 17-7 defeat of the Fins. Afterward, Bills safety Ko Simpson, a rookie at the time, referred to Culpepper as "the big joker."

That loss, in big, bold letters, declared that the old Culpepper -- the one who possessed outstanding mobility -- was dead. And once his footwork is taken, Culpepper's essentially a worse version of the Drew Bledsoe whom Dallas fans saw last season.

Aside from the over-the-hill Culpepper, the Raiders' stable of quarterbacks includes not-so-appetizing options in Josh McCown (72.1 career efficiency rating), Andrew Walter (three touchdowns, 13 interceptions last year) and Jeff Otis (no NFL experience). With a group of guys like that at the most important position on the field, Oakland would be hard-pressed to improve upon its excruciatingly bad 2-14 campaign of a season ago.

That's where Russell comes in, though. As of now, he's already missed a decent amount of training camp, and that's a major setback. The 22-year-old still has to enter the Raiders' facilities in Napa Valley, Calif., and get acquainted with rookie head coach Lane Kiffin's offensive playbook and his teammates

Despite everything he's missed thus far, Russell's not budging. He's currently at home in Mobile, Ala., waiting for the Raiders to put forth what he and his agent, Eric Metz, deem a suitable offer for the draft's top choice.

"I like to take chances like that," Raiders patriarch Al Davis, referring to the signing of Culpepper, told the New York Times. "I don't know what the risk is. I don't see any real risk."

Maybe there's no monetary risk, but Oakland will be left in the cold this season if its rookie QB isn't in camp soon.

The Raiders must ante up immediately, no matter how crazy they think Russell's demands are, or suffer the consequences. Soon, they could once again be saying hello to an ornery, restless fan base and the No. 1 pick in the 2008 draft.

Get more on the Oakland Raiders at RealFootball365.com.
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CommentsComments: 56  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
morgan moore		03:01 AM
08/02/2007
I disagree. Why do we need him more than ever ? He's obviously not gonna be the opening day starter. He will sign soon enough....
No.2
GavRaider		03:08 AM
08/02/2007
The escalation of rookie high draft pick demands could really ruin the game of football. If, as rumored, J Russell wants 15% more...
No.3
Raider Glory		03:49 AM
08/02/2007
This is B.S.!! I cannot believe this is happening!! The way I saw it, I did not think that Jamarcus was a money grubbing...
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