Quick! We need more buildup to the NFL Draft! The top prospects do not have enough pressure on them. Will they bust or become perennial Pro Bowlers? Matt Sussman and Tuffy examine both sides of each coin, writing articles from the year 2011 "looking back" on the top 2007 draft picks. Just another reason to own a flux capacitor.
JaMarcus Russell The Star
OAKLAND — The four years after the Oakland Raiders last made the Super Bowl, they won a combined 15 games while losing 49. The next four-year span, through which quarterback JaMarcus Russell played in an integral role, the Raiders improved to 27-37.
Still not the kind of plundering made famous by the silver and black. But the ship appears to be untying itself from the dock.
But neither of the last two seasons were anchored to mediocrity. In 2009 the Raiders finally broke even with an 8-8 record. Last year, their successful 9-7 campaign earned them a Wild Card playoff berth, upsetting Miami in the first round before falling to Vince Young and the Tennessee Titans. Russell played a large part in that, as he earned his first Pro Bowl appearance.
This year, Russell is looking to push even deeper into the AFC playoffs with a conference championship appearance — or perhaps even further than that.
It's hard to believe now, but there actually was doubt about Russell's emergence into the NFL. The science of quarterbacks going in the first few picks is rather hit or miss. Just ask Peyton Manning and Tim Couch. But the Raiders did one thing right in the 2007 season: They gave him a clipboard. Sacrificial lamb Andrew Walter kept the team warm during Russell's rookie year as the team finished 4-12.
Walter also started the first two games of 2008, going 1-1, before Russell was finally sworn in as starting quarterback. That was also the year, conveniently, that the Raiders used their third overall pick to snag fellow SEC alum Darren McFadden to line up behind him.
Article comments
1 - Jerkwheat
GAH!!! Nightmares of Darren McFadden having to play for Oakland...MAKE IT STOP!!