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Backlash Against Russell Begins

kastofsna

kastofsna

Hall of Fame
In the minds of many evaluators, including PFW resident draft analyst Nolan Nawrocki, there is a considerable gap between QBs JaMarcus Russell and Brady Quinn.

The way we hear it, it is Quinn, not Russell, who Nawrocki and a growing contingent of teams think will be the better pro. And perhaps to the surprise of many draft fans, more of the teams we consulted had finished their pre-Combine draft meetings thinking Quinn would be the better pro.

Multiple teams that have begun digging into Russell's background have been turned off by his lazy work habits and immaturity. When he took off his shirt at the Combine weigh-ins and exposed a very soft, fleshy body filled with baby fat, the concerns immediately heightened for one top-10 team that PFW spoke with, revealing what some consider to be the tip of the iceberg.

Much like Vince Young a year ago, whose poor Wonderlic test result was leaked and wound up setting in motion a lot of questions about how far he would fall, the significance of Russell's unshapely physique may be way overblown.

Our sources say Oakland’s Al Davis, who holds the top pick, is still chafed he decided not to take Matt Leinart a year ago and is dead-set on finding a signalcaller of the future to replace the recently released Aaron Brooks, whose option was not exercised after one year with the team.

Davis is widely assumed to favor the more strong-armed Russell, who better fits the vertical offense the Raiders have long run. However, had Davis made the call a year ago, our sources say he would have selected the more cerebral, NFL-ready Leinart, not the more strong-armed Jay Cutler, whom the Broncos traded up to select one pick later.

Said one astute, high-ranking evaluator, whose team has no need for a quarterback, of the draft's top two quarterbacks: “Physically, arm-strength-wise, there is no question who has the advantage. But if you want to talk about mental aptitude, ability to escape pressure and make good decisions, it's not even close. There is a big ‘miss’ factor on Russell. He had a lot of up-and-down games, and he makes a lot of bad decisions. He's sitting in the middle of the second round right now on our board. He'll never make it that far, but that’s where his value is. After Quinn, I would be sweating if I needed a quarterback from the rest of this crop.”

If Davis fails to land a veteran passer such as Houston’s David Carr, who has been thrown on the trading block after his struggles last year, or Byron Leftwich, who may be dealt despite Jack Del Rio’s statement that he is the Jaguars’ starter for 2007, don't be surprised if Quinn, not Russell, winds up becoming the first overall pick. Davis could be among those who are scared off by the red flags surrounding Russell and thus opt for Quinn. That could leave Russell, despite the concerns, falling only, like Young, to the No. 3 spot, where fellow Mobile, Ala., native and Browns GM Phil Savage would be waiting with open arms, the way we hear it.

Sources close to the Browns have even speculated that Savage, who helped advise Russell on his decision to enter the draft, has already informed Russell that he would not fall any further than the spot where the Browns were picking, and that he would be a lock top-four pick.
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from PFW
 
Dear sweet baby Jesus...let the Raiders take Calvin or Quinn and let Cleve-land go with Russell. Please sweet baby Jesus let Peterson fall to the Texans.

Amen.
 
His softness would worry me too. Now he's probably made the rounds on the award circuit so his diet and workout have probably suffered, but knowing that the biggest interview of your life was coming up and not working out hard beforehand?

Wonder what his study habits would be like in the NFL?
 
Another negative I see with Russell is his arrogance. If you saw him walking around at the combine you would think he owned the place, and he didn't do anything. He acts like he's got the #1 pick in the bag, and isn't that just what the Raiders need... another cocky player.

Good luck Lane Kiffin (a coach younger than alot of players on the team) trying to control the egos of Russell, Moss, & Porter... WOW! No pressure there for the youngest coach in the NFL...
 
David's Busted Carr said:
Another negative I see with Russell is his arrogance. If you saw him walking around at the combine you would think he owned the place, and he didn't do anything. He acts like he's got the #1 pick in the bag, and isn't that just what the Raiders need... another cocky player.

Good luck Lane Kiffin (a coach younger than alot of players on the team) trying to control the egos of Russell, Moss, & Porter... WOW! No pressure there for the youngest coach in the NFL...
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I noticed he looked pretty arrogant as well...



I don't know if that has any affect on his on field performance though...
 
Silver Oak said:
His softness would worry me too. Now he's probably made the rounds on the award circuit so his diet and workout have probably suffered, but knowing that the biggest interview of your life was coming up and not working out hard beforehand?

Wonder what his study habits would be like in the NFL?
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What awards did he win?
 
I never really felt for Russell. When you take away his arm, there's not really anything else you could look at that stands out big. I wonder what he got on his Wonderlic....
 
kastofsna said:
from PFW
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Excellent! Best news I've heard today. Quinn goes to Oakland and Russell to Cleveland leaving that scrawny old Adrian Peterson for Mr McNair to make a millionairre. Hooray! We get our franchise back and Bush slowly fades to just another memory.....
 
That's what i've been thinking. Russell has such a long way to go before he becomes a great quarterback. That was interesting reading that one team has him as a mid second.

He sure has a big upside but with that comes a lot of risk. of all the top ten rated players I have Russell as the biggest bust factor...maybe next to Ginn.

He could be a great fit for oakland with that big arm of his and they need a qb, but that's all it is...a need pick for them...they should go with calvin johnson or even joe thomas. i'd suggest them trading down but that will be very difficult. al davis doesnt want to take a qb or lt again at 1. everyone's been saying he's gonna take russell but that pick is way overvalued for russell.

personally i'd rather quinn than russell for the texans. but russell would intrigue me if he fell to us. i'd just rather us not spend our 1st on a qb.
 
Speaking of winning the big one (or not), Quinn, by my very unofficial count, was 2-8 in the Very Big Ones at Notre Dame: 2-1 versus Michigan, 0-4 against USC, 0-3 in bowl games. Not good. But let's not slay Quinn over it just yet. In those eight losses, Notre Dame allowed 47, 44, 41, 34, 34, 41, 38 and 45 points.
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http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/peter_king/02/26/indy/3.html


From Peter King's MMQB. I don't expect Quinn, AP, or Levi Brown to last until the 8th pick, but would love to have any of the three.
 
those scores say it all, MT. hard to win those "big games" when your defense allows 40.5 points per game.
 
The only thing that bothered me yesterday was his answer to a question during an interview when the interviewer asked (basically) "you weighed in at 265, isn't that a little high?"

JR answered that he was "surprised" that he weighed that much and that his playing weight was going to be 250 something so it's not a big deal.

How the H can you be "surprised" about what you weigh, when you know you are going to get on a scale at the combine in the most scrutinized minute of the most scrutinized two months of your life?

If millions are on the line, I know exactly what I weigh at every minute of every day - and I have good justification for any gains or losses. "I was surprised" doesn't sit well with me for some reason.

It could be construed as arrogance (since he may be able to drop 10 in a minute and keep it off) or laziness...

But I wonder about a kid - a QB no less- who's that young and already tips the scale at 265 before he gets his $16 million signing bonus. Sure, he can see over mountains and throw it 80 but when I saw him shirtless, I was wondering whether this guy can keep his weight under control and stay healthy and mobile and keep the fire in his belly burning for more than a couple of years..

Yeah, I know ... a bigger version of Culpepper...
 
kastofsna said:
it's also too bad you need to be able to pass the ball to win a super bowl. sucks...
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After Vince wins a ring, I'm going to run this post into the ground. You're going to wish you never said it. Makes you sound ignorant and you lose credibility when you say things like this.
 
David's Busted Carr said:
Another negative I see with Russell is his arrogance. If you saw him walking around at the combine you would think he owned the place, and he didn't do anything. He acts like he's got the #1 pick in the bag, and isn't that just what the Raiders need... another cocky player.

Good luck Lane Kiffin (a coach younger than alot of players on the team) trying to control the egos of Russell, Moss, & Porter... WOW! No pressure there for the youngest coach in the NFL...
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I would too if i knew 26+ million guaranteed were coming my way...:marionaner:

He'll have the scouts drooling again after his proday...
kastofsna said:
it's also too bad you need to be able to pass the ball to win a super bowl. sucks...
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signed,
ben rothlisberger
 
Titan "Tack" Fan;606111 said:
After Vince wins a ring, I'm going to run this post into the ground. You're going to wish you never said it. Makes you sound ignorant and you lose credibility when you say things like this.
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after joey harrington wins 4 super bowl MVPs i'm going to wake up and stop dreaming.
 
Titan "Tack" Fan;606111 said:
After Vince wins a ring, I'm going to run this post into the ground. You're going to wish you never said it. Makes you sound ignorant and you lose credibility when you say things like this.
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Since when did the truth cost someone credibility & make them sound ignorant?
 
kastofsna said:
i would but i doubt he'd understand the word "aptitude."
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Maybe not Kast, but he understands a few things better than us. Here are a few ex.:
Win football games, probably winning in general
don't ever quit (ie. Rose Bowl)
How to spend Millions with a terrible wonderwic score


No need to crack on VY.
 
Luv Ya Blue 2007 said:
Maybe not Kast, but he understands a few things better than us. Here are a few ex.:
Win football games, probably winning in general
don't ever quit (ie. Rose Bowl)
How to spend Millions with a terrible wonderwic score


No need to crack on VY.
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This happens every year when there's a pre-draft favorite at #1. Everybody always tries to find something wrong with him. It's just human nature. Russell will go #1. He'll go into his Pro Day weighing 255, 260 and everything will be just fine. He'll go to Oakland, get hammered by opposing defenses, and people will think it's JaMarcus's fault for some reason.

They just moved a BACKUP guard to starting Left Tackle. a little premature, don't ya think? Is Gallery going to be better at RT than he was at LT. only time will tell.
 
let's hope gallery becomes a better rt than he was at lt. lol

i also say some of those losses in big games of quinn's, i don't put on him. While I don't watch him very much, I have watched a few.

The 2005 game against USC comes to mind. IMO Notre Dame should have won the game. They would have but leinart had a miraculous drive leading down the field with a minute and a half left. completed one huge pass to jarrett when he was well covered. the defense almost stopped them but we all remmember the bush push.

Now I know you all are gonna say, ooh wow so 1 game..he still has all those losses! I say very true but that his defense lost a lot of the games and that not all those losses you can point on quinn. the arguement that if your a great qb you should know how to win no matter what doesn't always hold water.
 
Navy_Chris said:
This happens every year when there's a pre-draft favorite at #1. Everybody always tries to find something wrong with him. It's just human nature. Russell will go #1. He'll go into his Pro Day weighing 255, 260 and everything will be just fine. He'll go to Oakland, get hammered by opposing defenses, and people will think it's JaMarcus's fault for some reason.
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yeah, but it's really easy to find stuff wrong with russell. he's just a hyped-up #1, there's no substance there. the raiders won't draft him.
 
I keep hearing word of Russell's less than stellar work ethic. That can't be good. I say Oakland takes Calvin, trades either Moss or Porter for a mid-round pick (3 or 4 depending on which WR goes) and gets a QB like Stanton. Hell...maybe they'll trade for Plummer and we won't have to hear about Jake anymore.
 
Russell has always impressed with his physical abilities but not much else. But what has Quinn done?

one astute said:
After Quinn, I would be sweating if I needed a quarterback from the rest of this crop.
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I'd be sweating if I needed any of the QBs from this crop.
 
probably just a coincidence but why is it the highly rated black QB is always the whipping boy here every draft? Dude throws for 70% of his passes, throws for multiple td's in big games, is in a big time College program and out duels his white rival straight up and he ends up the slacker of the crop.
 
Vinny said:
probably just a coincidence but why is it the highly rated black QB is always the whipping boy here every draft? Dude throws for 70% of his passes, throws for multiple td's in big games, is in a big time College program and out duels his white rival straight up and he ends up the slacker of the crop.
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Wow, it took all of two pages for someone to throw in the race card. I think that may be a record.
 
Vinny said:
probably just a coincidence but why is it the highly rated black QB is always the whipping boy here every draft? Dude throws for 70% of his passes, throws for multiple td's in big games, is in a big time College program and out duels his white rival straight up and he ends up the slacker of the crop.
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there is no need to start saying black vs. white. That has nothing to do with anything. he might complete 70% of his passes but he also makes very bad descisions. I bet he getts in the NFL and just think he is the $**t and not care about anything except the $$$$$
 
Vinny said:
probably just a coincidence but why is it the highly rated black QB is always the whipping boy here every draft? Dude throws for 70% of his passes, throws for multiple td's in big games, is in a big time College program and out duels his white rival straight up and he ends up the slacker of the crop.
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good point, except you're completely wrong. quinn is the whipping boy of this draft. russell is getting a free pass from most, for some reason.
 
Huge said:
Like what?

I mean other than be the starting QB for Notre Dame and play under Charlie Weiss (apparently that counts for something).
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you're too smart for this silly of a stance. this is something dumb people say. DERRR HE DIDNT BEAT USC SO HE SUCKS LOL OWNED
 
kastofsna said:
good point, except you're completely wrong. quinn is the whipping boy of this draft. russell is getting a free pass from most, for some reason.
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You mean Brady "I played the Naval Academies, North Carolina, and Stanford" Quinn

Give me a break. If Brady Quinn played in the SEC he would be very average. And he may still be very average playing at Notre Dame.
 
trublu said:
Wow, it took all of two pages for someone to throw in the race card. I think that may be a record.
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I'm not as pc as you I guess.. I just state what I see, and I've been here a while. I don't see any Quinn backlash threads...Didn't see anyone picked apart last year except the highly rated black guy.....just found it kinda ironic. I'm not black so I don't really think of myself as using "the race card" on this...just an observation.
 
Vinny said:
probably just a coincidence but why is it the highly rated black QB is always the whipping boy here every draft? Dude throws for 70% of his passes, throws for multiple td's in big games, is in a big time College program and out duels his white rival straight up and he ends up the slacker of the crop.
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Wow...

Good post.
 
kastofsna said:
you're too smart for this silly of a stance. this is something dumb people say. DERRR HE DIDNT BEAT USC SO HE SUCKS LOL OWNED
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You're right...he didn't beat USC. Or any other team that finished the season ranked among the top 25 for the past two seasons.

Quinn is every bit as overrated as the Notre Dame teams he played on.
 
HuttoKarl said:
I keep hearing word of Russell's less than stellar work ethic. That can't be good. I say Oakland takes Calvin, trades either Moss or Porter for a mid-round pick (3 or 4 depending on which WR goes) and gets a QB like Stanton. Hell...maybe they'll trade for Plummer and we won't have to hear about Jake anymore.
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I have the solution. We trade Carr for Porter. They take Calvin & we take Russell. :stirpot:
 
if only he and those terrible he has receivers could put up 41 points per game against those teams. then they would've won. by an average of one point per game.

when your defense is as bad as notre dame's, you're not beating any good teams.
 
Champ said:
Russell and his Uncle laughing at the supposed "backlash" here in this SI.com article.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/peter_king/02/27/combine0305/index.html
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good post!!!! well the upside in both of these guys is that they both are hungry, they both think they are the best but I think Quinn wants it more just by reading the article, I think players would follow him more or be more of a team guy. JM just seems like he dosent really care that he just wants the check you know.
 
"Yeah," said JaMarcus, shaking his head slightly, hands thrust in the pockets of his new NFL jacket. "I don't love football. We'll see about that."
 
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