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In an otherwise very, very good draft (if McCalin is truly healthy), it seems utterly inexplicable to understand why the Raiders passed up Clausen - especially when he was available late in the draft. Ostensibly, the reason why the Raiders have not cut Russell, is likely tied to the very same reason the Raiders did not draft Clausen in the first place - even when he was available later; they simply do not want to cut Russell - yet.

Al Davis invested not only precious capital ($$$$) in Russell, but also his pride - we can all recall where he tried to roast Kiffen, by stating that Russell is a great player and that he should have gotten over the it. Now, it seems that this same pride has kept the Raiders from seriously addressing their quarterback needs. Make no mistake, though Campbell definitely seems like an upgrade from Russell, he does not appear to be a long term solution.

Thus it seems that the Raiders are simply more interested in giving Russell another opportunity to prove Davis right than in building toward the future on more solid ground. By not drafting Clausen, but instead trading for Campbell the Raiders are doing two things:
1) Giving Russell strong incentive to restructure his contract, rather than taking the money and walking.
2) Throwing a bone to Raider fans and the team who desperately want to see some improvement.

To put it plainly, Campbell simply does not represent the same threat Clausen would, which in essence is saying to Russell, your best opportunity to be a starter in this league is still with the Raiders; restructure your contract and you will be given an opportunity to compete with Campbell for the starting position. In contrast, if Clausen were to be on board it would be unlikely that Russell would even consider restructuring his contract - since Russell (and his agent) would see that the it would be wiser to take the money than compete with a smart, tough, accurate quarterback.

Thus, with Campbell there is more incentive to restructure, but with Clausen there is much less and that is seemingly why the Raiders passed up the great, great opportunity to address a position of serious need. Essentially, even if Clausen were to have fallen to the seventh round, the Raiders still would not have taken him, not because Clausen has no potential, but rather because Davis' has his pride. While many would be correct in stating that this draft was a very, very, solid draft only a lemming would not see the folly of putting pride before logic.

All this being stated, Al Davis knows football and I am not about to allow my own pride to blind me to the possibility that maybe Davis sees something in Russell that I have not seen and by challenging Russell in this manner, he hopes to bring out the best in him. As Raider fans, we can hope that Davis is more motivated by his football knowledge than his pride here, but I honestly find that unlikely. While lemmings may be ecstatic with Campbell and the draft, wiser fans have to question the motivations of a team that passed up the opportunity to address a position of serious need so many times.

Will JaMarcus restructure or not? For better or worse, Davis has done just about everything in his power to motivate Russell into restructuring, but now Russell has a decision to make.

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I hope he says no so the Raiders can finally part ways with the lazy POS.

Bye bye Russell.

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PEACE RAIDER NATION!

Campbell hasn't excelled, but he hasn't sucked either. He's played enough games in the NFL to prove he can perform adequately. And he can perform this year. Jimmy Clausen hasn't played a down. He may some day be great, or he may someday be the next Brady Quinn.

Highly unlikely he could produce this year, and I don't think Al or the fans have the stomach for a year of an injury prone Bruce Gradkowski, weak armed Charlie Fry, or Kyle Boller.

For the Raiders, Campbell was the low risk option. I'm glad they went that direction, and used the pick to adress other needs. More so because of the Raiders history developing quaterbacks from within. They just don't know how to do that. It's not in their DNA. Kenny Stabler was the only successful quarterback they developed within in team history. (I suppose one might argue Marc Wilson was somewhat successful in that he started for several years).

Clausen or no Clausen, I think Jamarcus would get the same offer regardless. Take the 3 million you're guaranteed, plus league minimum. That gets you a ticket to training camp. If you're good enough to make the team, great. If not, you're out of football, and we're out an extra $750K or so.

Interesting point, but I do not think that it stands up to closer scrutiny. Saying that someone hasn't sucked, but hasn't excelled either is not exactly a ringing endorsement for Campbell or for passing on Clausen in the third round. I think your argument is strongest for not picking Clausen during the first or maybe even second round - but, that may be somewhat stretching it. However, passing on Clausen in the third really does not make any sense - he was arguably either the top or second QB in the draft. Why not use a third round pick for a potential franchise QB? I think the answer to that question lies in pride.

I do not think that Al Davis is ready to admit that he was wrong about Russell. Clausen, whether he has played a down or not in the NFL, would be a larger threat to Russell than Campbell who has not exactly lit up the league since he came in. Moreover, Campbell will pick up less media hype and, from what I have read, shares many of the same weaknesses which have plagued Russell - though seemingly not to the same extent - thus, presenting a challenge to Russell instead of an overbearing threat.

Had Clausen been the pick, Russell's agent would have likely told Russell to simply take the money and see if someone will take a chance on him. However, Campbell is less of a threat thereby allowing Russell's agent to state, look, the Raiders are probably going to give you a better offer than you can get anywhere else and the Raiders would love to see you win - so, Oakland is your best bet and thus you should consider restructuring your contract.

You stated that Campbell was a low risk because it took only a fourth round pick, but Clausen could have been had for a 3rd which is still a relatively low risk. Again, I think your argument is strongest for not picking Clausen in the first, but he could have been had in the 3rd. Moreover, even though Campbell seems serviceable, he has not shown that he is a franchise QB, so why not burn a third on someone like Clausen who seems to have a higher ceiling? Remember, Campbell has had several years in the NFL to prove that he can be a franchise QB and so far, he has no done so. Whether this is entirely his fault or not is somewhat debatable, but only to an extent.

The whole argument that the Raiders cannot develop talent is silly at best; Hackett and Jackson have both shown success and there is absolutely no reason to suggest that they cannot do it again, if they have someone that they can work with.

I completely agree, whether Clausen or Campbell, the offer to Russell will very likely be exactly the same. The only thing that changes (depending on whether Clausen or Campbell is on board) is the likelihood of Russell accepting such a restructure and Davis really, really wants Russell to accept it, because otherwise he would have to admit that he was totally wrong about Russell.

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