Raider No More

The 2007 NFL Draft has been pretty successful in terms of production. They've had 7 Pro Bowlers who were not first round draft picks, such as Sidney Rice and Le'Ron McClain. However, only two of the Top 10 players drafted have made the Pro Bowl: Joe Thomas of the Browns and Adrian Peterson of the Vikings. The first half of the first round was full of busts (at least after three years of their professional careers). Players like Amobi Okoye, Ted Ginn Jr. and Gaines Adams (although Adams unfortunately won't have a chance to improve his career due to his death in January) have not had the impact they were expected to have when they were drafted. But no player in that draft has been a bigger bust so far than JaMarcus Russell. The #1 pick in the '07 draft has done nothing for the Raiders in his career, and Raiders president Al Davis finally realized that yesterday when the Raiders released Russell.

The Raiders have not had successful first round draft picks in the last decade other than Nnamdi Asomugha in 2003. Al Davis really believed in Russell, and that's why it took him three years to choose to cut him. I personally wasn't crazy any of the quarterbacks coming out of that draft (especially Russell), and now the Raiders organization wishes that had gone in another direction. Russell put up just a 50.0 QB rating with 3 touchdowns and 11 interceptions this season in 12 games. Russell's '09 stats were not even like a 3rd-string quarterback's numbers. In total, he's got 18 touchdowns and 23 interceptions in 31 games with just a 52% completion percentage. Russell's 65.2 QB rating is not good enough to play in the NFL. I don't know what team is going to give him another chance, but whoever it is, they have to truly believe that he can help their team.

The Raiders are moving on now. Jason Campbell was acquired in a trade during the draft. Russell was 7-18 in 25 career starts, and while Campbell did not have a big impact in Washington, I think he will be a good fit for Oakland. Who knows, maybe the Raiders can be a playoff team in a few years like they were with Rich Gannon.