by Scott Sokol

Despite all the glitz, glamour, fame, and money that come with being the NFL’s Number One pick, you have to figure that on January 7, there was some part of JaMarcus Russell that wishes he had stayed at LSU for one more year. While Russell was making statements about how he will be in camp on time next year, his old teammates were busy taking it to Ohio State in a 38-24 BCS championship rout at the Superdome. I mean come on; it has to hurt a little that JaMarcus held out for 61 million while LSU didn’t lose a game in regulation all year.

In college football you can win games on heart and toughness alone, but in the pros you need something more. JaMarcus Russell has it. Sure, toughness and heart are crucial, as proved by the New York Giants in the Super Bowl, but if you don’t have the tools to succeed, you don’t have a prayer.

To understand how good JaMarcus might be, you first need to understand what kind of a quarterback he is. He stands 6’6", 255, has good speed, and

...a very strong arm. But just because he is big and mobile, don’t get fooled into believing that Russell is a running quarterback. No, you probably won’t see him dropping back, only to sprint forward, and you won’t see any of that Michael Vick/Vince Young run and shoot offense. JaMarcus Russell is a prototypical pocket quarterback, and he has the potential to be very good. At his best, Russell probably won’t look too different from Raider teammate Daunte Culpepper(the 2004 39 TD version), only Russell should be able to sustain high touchdown numbers for much longer than Daunte.

Usually there are two schools of thought with Rookie Quarterbacks. The first, used by the Colts with Peyton Manning, is to let your prized quarterback learn by making mistakes. The second, used by the Bengals with Carson Palmer, is to hold your QB out for a year to let him learn the offense before he steps on the field. A messy contract holdout and a miserable season combined to put JaMarcus Russell somewhere in the middle.

In his first pro season in 2007, Russell played in four games, all in December, starting the season finale against the Chargers. In that game, he was sacked four times, threw an INT, and lost two fumbles – one in the end zone. But if you can look past that, it was not a bad first start at all – Russell went 23 for 31(74%), passing for 224 yards with a touchdown and had a 91.4 QB rating in the game. To give you a bit of a reference point, Peyton had a 58.6 QB rating in his first game, and only topped 90 eight times in his first two seasons/32 starts.

That number looks even more impressive if you know that over the last 8 games of San Diego’s season; only one other quarterback had a QB rating over 70 – Peyton at 97.7 in the Division Playoffs. Combine all this with a wide receiving corps of Jerry Porter and Ronald Curry, and playing without starting Running Back Justin Fargas, and this starts to look like one heck of a first game as a starter.

Before you get too far ahead of yourself and go picking JaMarcus Russell in the first round or something, let’s remember some things about his situation.

The Raiders don’t know who there coach will be next year after owner Al Davis asked first year coach Lane Kiffin to resign and Kiffin refused to do so. Neither Ronald Curry nor Jerry Porter has a 1,000 yard season in the NFL. The team tied for

third worst in the NFL with their 4-12 record in 2007, and finally, it’s never good when your team’s only Pro Bowler is the punter – Shane Lechler.

So then the question becomes, is JaMarcus Russell the savior for Raider Nation?

I’ll go out there and say Yes – but not in 2008.

Here’s what Raider fans have to look forward to: Zach Miller had 444 yards and 3 touchdowns in his Rookie year and should develop into a solid pass catching Tight End. Even more encouraging were Justin Fargas’ 1,009 yards in only nine games as the featured back. He went over 100 yards in four of them. JaMarcus is the real prize though, as he still has a chance to be great. In his final year at LSU in 2006, he threw for 28 touchdowns to only 8 interceptions, and completed nearly 68% of his passes and engineered a 41-14 blowout of Brady Quinn’s Fighting Irish.

Russell has both the makeup and the skill to be a great NFL quarterback, and a full year as a starter under his belt should do wonders for him. 2008 should be an up and down year for both JaMarcus and the Raiders, but if the Raiders can do well in the draft, and maybe add a receiving threat, 2009 could very well be the year JaMarcus Russell solidifies himself as a top ten quarterback in the NFL.