Silver and Black Report

When the Oakland Raiders face the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, their starting quarterback will be Bruce Gradkowski, not JaMarcus Russell.

Tom Cable stated today, “Just felt like he would give us the best chance to win, and we need to get to playing better offensively and win football games.”

Wow, it took Cable and the Raiders this long to come to that decision?

Russell has led the Silver & Black to a 2-7 record and has been one of the worst starting quarterbacks in the league in 2009. He has displayed difficulties all year hitting his targets, showing poor pocket presence and leaving opponents salivating at his inability to scan the field. “Obviously, he’s been struggling a little bit. He’s turned the ball over more than any quarterback in the league,” Chiefs Safety Mike Brown said last week. “That’s something that we talked about. And usually he only looks at one side of the field. He doesn’t read the whole field.”

And he hasn’t been able to pilot the team either. Russell’s leadership is in question, along with his work ethic and accountability. After his first benching during a thrashing versus the New York Jets, the former first overall selection stated, “I’ve never been in that situation. It was kind of shocking to me at first.”

And he continued, shedding any responsibilities regarding his ineptness, “I don’t think it’s me personally, I really don’t.”

Two losses and futile performances later, along with another yanking by the coach and Russell declared, “Things were going OK.”

The time to sit him has passed. It’s the right move, but it needed to be done earlier.

Russell has been overwhelmed. And at this point of his career, he does not grasp the enormity of his presence nor the degree of importance his growth is to this organization.

He is 7-19 as a starter for the Silver & Black. But more importantly than the wins or losses – he has not gotten better. There is no tangible evidence in his play that leads you to think that he is the franchise passer this organization needed when they selected him.

The physical tools that make your jaw drop in a sterile environment or a practice facility on a pro-day are not translating onto the football field. What is needed out of a quarterback when they are taken that high; the ability to make teammates better, leadership, accountability and a fire to excel and achieve greatness are all lacking in Russell.

The wake-up call that was needed earlier may have been postponed because of the owner.

Al Davis has proclaimed that Russell is his man. And that conviction is probably still there. Because of that certainty, the owner has probably kept the head coach from doing this earlier.

A move that would have kept the Raiders afloat, or at least more competitive in a weak AFC West instead of being cellar dwellers once again.

As Cable proclaimed today, “It was an easy decision because I feel the responsibility for this football team to give them the best chance to succeed.”

That reservation and not believing that Russell can lead this team at this point can be damaging to the immature passer.

Now the question will be how will Russell come out of this situation?

When asked if he still sees the LSU product as the future of this club, Cable stated, “That’s my hope. This is in no way giving up on the guy. This is just trying to jump start this team and really break it down and make a decision based on what gives us the best chance to win.”

Cable probably hopes himself he can be in the future plans of this organization, especially after the off the field issues he has had in 2009. But with what we’ve seen of Russell so far and how he’s confronted adversity since he arrived to Oakland, this benching leads me to believe that this is just the beginning of the end.

“No at the end of the day it’s what we do on game days that matter and that’s all I based it on,” stated Cable.

What matters also is how a quarterback approaches his craft. And Russell leads you to believe that he is not from the Peyton Manning school of immersing yourself completely into your job.

That is why he is in this predicament along with his inaccuracy, poor footwork, lack of leadership and failure to show progress, improvement or any bit of maturity in his game.

This benching, sitting him the rest of the season over a underdog and keeping him on the sidelines is a time out; a chance for him to exhale and recover from the mess that has been the start of his career.

The years and money remaining on his deal will keep him in Silver & Black for a few more seasons. And the stubborn owner will try to make it work with his prized passer. So he’ll get many opportunities to turn his career around.

But some things just can’t be fixed. And all the traits Russell has displayed make up the blueprint for a bust.

With this rabid fan-base ready to label him the next Ryan Leaf and sick of the losing, next time he steps onto the field, he’ll feel the pressure all over again.

And if that is next season, will Oakland pull the trigger earlier to salvage a season or let their quarterback struggle and drag the team back into the depths of the league?

If it is next year we see Russell again, that version better be completely revamped, because this one has no future in the NFL.