Raiders’ McCown to stay in ‘08? Maybe for the best

By Anthony Carroll  |   Thursday, December 27, 2007  |  Comments( 42 )

Oakland Raiders
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Oakland Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin gave fans a small gift this holiday season. Unknowingly, ESPN analyst John Clayton did all he could to take it away.

On Monday, the 32-year-old coach announced that first overall pick JaMarcus Russell will start his first NFL game in Week 17. Russell has previously seen action in three contests this season, but he is yet to handle the team's first snap since agreeing to a six-year, $68 million contract in September.

On the same day that Kiffin made it official that Russell would finally be No. 1 on the depth chart, Clayton foretold that McCown would remain on the depth chart ... in 2008. Not only that, Clayton believes the 28-year-old QB will enter into training camp as the slated starter.

"Expect the Raiders to try to re-sign quarterback Josh McCown and keep him as the starter and have Russell as the backup competing for the starting job," Clayton speculated in his Dec. 24 blog.

The reasoning Clayton gave was that Kiffin isn't exactly sold on Russell as the starter yet. The young coach was extremely critical of the rookie passer after a 49-11 loss at Jacksonville, where Russell played most of the game. The 6-foot-6, 255-pounder completed just 30.4 percent of his passes for 83 yards, three picks and one late touchdown. On the season, Russell has only a 24.6 passer rating in his very limited playing time.

After last week's catastrophe, Kiffin was the first person to list every mistake Russell made.

"Ball handling in the run game. Footwork in the passing game. Decision making. Timing. Accuracy. You name it. It was out there on film yesterday. He's got a long ways to go."

Russell was also taken down in the backfield twice and lost a fumble, upping his turnover total to four on the game.

"It's interesting to witness the tough love Lane Kiffin is giving rookie JaMarcus Russell," Clayton wrote. "Kiffin is going to give him the start against the Chargers Sunday, but the coach was critical of the mistakes Russell made in Sunday's blowout loss to the Jaguars. Kiffin was particularly upset about Russell's decision making. He made too many dumb throws, several that resulted in interceptions."

On several occasions Russell was pressured out of the pocket, and instead of throwing the ball out of bounds, he would opt for a jump-ball situation. He's lucky he left the game with only three interceptions on the stat sheet.

"You don't get the feeling Kiffin is confident enough in Russell's development to hand him the starting job before next season's training camp," Clayton added.

Currently, Oakland has four quarterbacks on its roster: Russell, McCown, Daunte Culpepper and Andrew Walter.

Culpepper, who's currently on the injured reserve list, signed a one-year, $3.2 million contract with the team on July 31. The 30-year-old veteran has completed a career-low 58.1 percent of his passes this season and has been nagged by constant injuries. Don't expect to see him in the silver and black in 2008.

The triple backup, Walter, has no intentions of being a career reserve; he's already made that clear with words. On the flip side, Kiffin has no intentions of starting him; he's made that clear with actions. That marriage likely won't last much longer.

McCown, on the other hand, has managed to fight through injuries to his quadriceps, right index finger, right foot and left big toe. He's also kept a positive attitude all season long, despite being yanked on several occasions and being booed non-stop. He's had no problem backing up both Culpepper and Russell, and likely wouldn't have a problem with it next year. In 2006 McCown spent the entire season behind Lions starter Jon Kitna; he only saw the field when he was asked to play wide receiver, and he gladly did.

Like it or not, if Clayton's right, fans may have to put up with McCown for yet another season.

Keep in mind, though, McCown is willing to put up with a lot more. And that's an important part of being the "other" quarterback.

Anthony Carroll can be contacted at acarroll@realfootball365.com
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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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