Just My Opinion 09/13/2007

Now that JaMarcus Russell is finally signed, sealed and delivered to Oakland, my first thoughts were, “Great, now I can see fans wanting him to play as soon as possible.” By and large most fans seem to grasp the concept that playing JaMarcus Russell this season would neither benefit him nor help the Raiders.

We’ve seen to often the end result when a player, particularly a quarterback is thrust into playing before he’s truly ready to make that start.

I’m reminded of Joey Harrington, David Carr and certainly Ryan Leaf. My biggest concerns about JaMarcus Russell have always been and will continue to be about his lack of experience. Some will argue that it doesn’t make a difference, but I believe it does.

Most NFL rookies seem to take some time to adjust to the speed of the NFL game and playing quarterback is arguably the most difficult position to learn, in some cases it takes a few years to truly settle in and get comfortable.

Al Davis is not a patient man or owner and didn’t pay millions of dollars to watch the future of the franchise carry a clipboard, but given the circumstances of a new coach, a new system and certainly the idea of rebuilding the team it’s a logical progression to take your time with the quarterback of the future and allow him to learn the system gradually.

I believe even Davis is smart enough to know the Raiders are not deep in quality talent, I believe the comment from him recently in an interview was, “I worry about the injuries.” Davis knows the Raiders do not have the quality depth to compete with the elite teams of the NFL, but I believe Lane Kiffin will find that talent and Davis will do all in his power to get Kiffin the type of football players needed to succeed.

So while we continue to watch the rebuilding process move forward, I hope some fans will stop the insane notion that playing JaMarcus Russell will somehow help prepare him for next season. While I would agree you can learn more actually being in the game, it’s critical the Raiders prevent that from happening, only because they still have to protect their investment, that alone should make even the average fan cautious.

We have seen what quality depth is with the elite teams of the league, they continue without missing as much as a beat, but it will be a good year before the Raiders will even be able to rise to a level of consistency.

The rebuilding process was well underway once Kiffin was hired, the foundation was set, and now with Russell’s signing the cornerstone was finally put in place, now the Oakland Raiders, and particularly Al Davis has to let the natural progression take place.

Patience is a virtue, now is the time to let it happen naturally, not force it unwisely, just my opinion.