RSS
Home
Russell benching reveals Raiders’ lack of foresight
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
For the first time in over a year, someone other than JaMarcus Russell will start at quarterback for the Oakland Raiders. On Wednesday, Tom Cable named Bruce Gradkowski the starter for Sunday’s game against the Bengals, the cherry on the embarrassing sundae that has been Russell’s 2009 season.
Oakland gave Russell a longer grace period than many teams would have, thanks in no small part to his status as a former number one pick. When you have a first-round pick at quarterback, you're optimistic to the point of irrational.
No matter what mistakes a bonus baby quarterback makes early in his career, you’re hopeful that he’ll learn from them and develop into a better player as a result. Now in his third season, Russell continues to make the same mistakes over and over, but doesn’t seem to learn from them.
On the flip side, when your quarterback is a journeyman backup, you suddenly become painfully realistic. You're keenly aware of all their faults, which can cloud any assessment of their positive traits.
Of course, one advantage to the journeyman backup is that you usually know what you're getting. More often than not, you’re getting someone who won’t win games by himself, but isn’t likely to lose them by himself either.
Yet Gradkowski is almost as much of an unknown as Russell. He’s started only two games since 2006, and his 0 TD’s and 2 INT’s this season have contributed to a quarterback rating worse than Russell’s.
The Raiders aren't rallying behind the quarterback with the higher ceiling. They're just removing the one they think has the lower floor.
When they let Jeff Garcia go, Oakland left themselves without an experienced passer on the roster. That wasn’t a problem back when they subscribed to the theory that it was best to let Russell learn on the job.
Not having Garcia around to stump for the starting job was beneficial earlier in the season, but as it turns out, an aggressive backup wasn’t required to push Russell out of the starting lineup. He was fully capable of losing the starting job all by himself.
But now that Russell has been put in park, Garcia looks like an attractive option. He was .500 as a starter for Tampa Bay last season, and he’s been productive throughout his career.
Garcia was the only thing resembling a proven quarterback on Oakland's roster, and releasing him should have cemented Russell's starting status through the end of the year. If the Raiders were going to evaluate Russell his week-to-week progress, then Garcia needed to stay on as a safety valve.
The Raiders aren’t likely to turn their season around at this point, and it’s highly unlikely that Gradkowski will play well enough to earn the starting job over Russell heading into next season.
By cutting Garcia and then benching Russell, the Raiders have completely mismanaged their quarterback situation.
The team appears to be saying that starting jobs won’t be handed out to those who haven’t earned it. But if that’s the case, why is Darrius Heyward-Bey starting ahead of Louis Murphy?
Russell came out of the bye week last Sunday with Oakland’s full compliment of offensive weapons at his disposal, as Chaz Schilens, Darren McFadden, Robert Gallery, and Cornell Green all returned to the lineup.
Yet the Raiders managed only ten points at home against the Chiefs, who entered the contest with a 1-7 record. Russell was booed at home yet again, and for the second straight home game, he was pulled for Gradkowski.
Making a quarterback change at this point is preferable to continuing to pull the starter mid-game, but it doesn’t change the harsh reality now facing Russell and the team.
In all likelihood, Russell will be back with the Raiders in 2010, and the progress he makes between this season and next will define his career with Oakland.
Moving forward, if the Raiders are forced to bench Russell again, it will likely mark the end of his time in silver and black.
The Oakland Sports Examiner.
Related Articles:
Comments
