Oakland Raider analysis: JaMarcus Russell's preseason progression crucial to Oakland Raiders long term success

Thoughts from the Dark Side

August 13, 2008

Oakland Raider analysis: JaMarcus Russell's preseason progression crucial to Oakland Raiders long term success

27 Comments

Recommended (0) | Share

There is a sense of optimism that is peculating through the Raider Nation. Al Davis made bold moves to improve the team. Lane Kiffin has a three headed monster at running back that will chew up yards on the ground. The Raiders won convincingly in their first preseason game. JaMarcus Russell ~~looks great~~. Oh wait. That last one is the hope and prayer of everyone in the Raider Nation, but there is no way to know that for sure based on his FIVE passes thrown against the San Francisco 49ers.

The Sixty Million Dollar Question

JaMarcus Russell, by virtue of being the first overall pick and his sixty million dollar contract, is the quarterback of the foreseeable future for the Oakland Raiders for better or for worst. Al Davis and Lane Kiffin are betting heavily on it being for the better. If Russell does not become a quality starter for the Raiders, they will be set back several years. Even if the salary cap is eliminated, his contract will be prohibitive for the Raiders to make a move with him for at least three or four more years. If Russell does not develop into the field general the Raiders expect, it won't be overstating it a bit to say that these last five years have not been rock bottom. Imagine these years with the Ryan Leaf effect added.

If Russell does develop into the leader that the Raiders so desperately need, then the ceiling is unlimited for this team. With the young talent the Raiders have in the backfield with Michael Bush and Darren McFadden, Russell would be the linchpin to an explosive offense that could score at will. Russell would be able to play action off of that running game to use his vaunted cannon arm to hit receivers downfield and run the vertical passing offense that the Raiders have been known for.

The sixty million dollar question is which way will JaMarcus Russell go? Will be be the Peyton Manning figure who becomes the savior of a franchise or will he be Ryan Leaf who leads a franchise into ruin and disarray?

Early Clues

Russell's NFL career got off to an inauspicious start, holding out through his entire rookie training camp and preseason. He lost a lot of valuable learning time there that he will never be able to get back. Had he been in training camp and been able to take snaps in the preseason, he quite likely would have seen much more game time last season.

In his four appearances with one start last season, he showed flashes of greatness and his cannon arm, but at times he very much looked the part of a rookie who had missed camp. In his first extended playing time against the Jacksonville Jaguars he threw four interceptions and did not look good. He followed that up with an improved performance against the San Diego Chargers in the season ending game.

The good news is that despite the rumors about his weight, he spent the majority of the offseason at the Alameda facility working hard on getting better. There were numerous reports that he was pouring over the playbook and working hard in the weight room. He was at all the voluntary OTAs, and working well with his coaches. This shows that he has the fire inside him to get better. One of the rumored knocks on him before the draft was that he wasn't a hard worker, which was disconcerting. Apparently, that was false as all of the offseason reports had him working hard.

Training Camp

Many of the reports out of training camp have raved about Russell's arm strength and his ability to make throws that look impossible. Kiffin has stressed limiting turnovers and hitting his check down receivers, rather than trying to force things deep. This is an important aspect to his game, as he has talented outlet receivers in the aforementioned McFadden and Bush as well as tight end Zach Miller. Getting the ball in their hands, even on a short dump off pass could end up going for a long gain.

It has been a bit of a concern that Russell has not been hitting his wide receivers for the longer passes. The question then pops up whether the problem is with the receiving corps, Russell himself, or the strength of the Raiders' pass coverage tandem. Big money free agent Javon Walker has been the invisible man thus far in camp. Todd Watkins, Drew Carter, and Ronald Curry have all outplayed him, but have been inconsistent at times. This does not bode well for a quarterback whose strength is supposed to be the deep game. If Russell is going to be successful, he needs to have a chemistry with his wide receivers so they will know what each other is going to be doing.

At the public practice, Russell threw a few nice lasers to his receivers, but when he went for the big ball it hung up and was batted down. This leaves some questions, because once again his strength was supposed to be the deep passes. Jerry McDonald and Jason Jones both raved about his ability to throw it deep, but when the fans had a chance to watch, it didn't looks so good. It could have been that he had a bad day of practice, or it could have just been a couple of bad throws, but in those he didn't look like Megatron as he has been nicknamed by the Nation for his cannon arm.

Preseason Exposure

This is JaMarcus Russell's first NFL preseason. It seems that Lane Kiffin did him a disservice by only allowing him five pass attempts in his first game. It is a given that he can hand off to Justin Fargas and McFadden, but the question is can he pass the ball? There was no clue given on whether he could, because he did not have the opportunity.

This begs an important question: WHY DID KIFFIN ONLY LET RUSSELL ATTEMPT FIVE PASSES IN HIS FIRST PRESEASON GAME?

Kiffin didn't trust the offensive line to protect Russell.

Kiffin doesn't have the trust in Russell to complete his passes

Kiffin has seen the receiving corps struggle.

Kiffin just wanted to be sure to beat the Niners, and knew that the rushing game would do the trick

All of the above.

Russell is the future of the franchise, and Kiffin needs to get him reps where he is throwing the ball. If he doesn't have the faith in the offensive line to protect Russell now, this bodes very ill for the season. If Kiffin doesn't have faith in Russell, this is a long term disaster in the making that will put the sinking of the Titanic to shame. If Kiffin doesn't trust the receivers, this will be a continuation of a huge deficit for the offense last season. If he was focused on beating the Niners, I question his sanity.

The Oakland Raiders NEED JaMarcus Russell to develop, and there is only one way for him to develop and that is to get actual game experience. Kiffin cheated him out of a chance to get some experience against the Niners by not giving him a chance to make some throws. Russell needs to get some passing experience in the next three preseason games to get ready for the real games, where he will NEED to pass to be successful.

Russell can't be treated like some fine crystal who will break easily. If he is easily broken, he has no place in the NFL. Kiffin needs to show some faith in his young signal caller, and get him out into the fire now. If it was Joe Montana or Brett Favre back there, sure give them a couple of series to knock the rust off. Its not, its a second year player who is essentially a rookie. He needs all the reps that he can get so that he will be ready once the Denver Broncos come to town on Monday night, September 8th. There will be nowhere to hide him then.

Hoping to see JaMarcus Russell become the next great Raider Quarterback here at TFDS!

Tags: NFL, Oakland Raiders, Raiders

Discussion

27 Comments on "Oakland Raider analysis: JaMarcus Russell's preseason progression crucial to Oakland Raiders long term success"

Posted by Tony, August 13, 2008 7:19 AM

I'm certain that Lane watched every horrid game of the 06 season. He may have been tainted by them as we all were. OMG... visions of our QB's hitting the grass over and over. To quote Big AL: "Poor Andrew Walter". I know this is a new season, along with several new and/or improved O-Line men, but couldn't we have done better than Greene/Harris??? Our interior is good, but our tackles always need help. We can't let Miller catch if he's always blocking, and our receivers seldom have more than 2 seconds to finish their routes. This means that his JUGS machine-like arm is basically a useless commodity. Upgrading our tackles is the key to the playoffs.

Off subject a bit, but am I the only one that's annoyed by the scoreboard to the right. Is there a reason we have to see the last loss we had against the Chargers for a friggen year?

Posted by UK Raider, August 13, 2008 8:18 AM

Best article i've read on TFDS so far Pat.

Am I the only one screaming 'play-action' 1st and 2nd down with our ground game??? It's got to help Russell. For me he has to have most of the playing time pre-season. Kiffin has already said he's the starter so start the education asap. What are we trying to achieve from the QB position giving Tui and Walter (who I think we should n't discount just yet) the majority of the playing time unless you plan to start one of them????

Posted by Raider Scott, August 13, 2008 8:20 AM

Patrick,

I responded similarly to one of Rob's articles about the handling of JRuss in the first pre-season game. I am hopeful that Kiff was bringing him along slowly so we would not get him killed in the first game. I certainly agree that this guy needs as many reps as possible based on his absentee 07 season. There are so many unanswered questions about our team and this is one of them. Unfortunately we won't find out until the next pre season game. From what I have read from Jason Jones (SacBee) and Jerry McDonald (Contra Costa) his performance at practice is not glowing. It doesn�t sound like our O-line is a great pass protection line so that raises even more concern. Let�s hope the running game can take a lot of pressure off JRuss. I think it is critical we have a competent back-up QB as well. I also read on Jerry's latest post that Kiff does not think our team is that good and I think Justin Griffith agreed. To make matters worse, Nnamdi has some sort of foot injury. Looks like we are getting our first taste of adversity, I hope our boys respond.

Posted by albert, August 13, 2008 8:46 AM

I know the fan reaction is 2 panic based on practice reports. this may make some feel better..he stayed in nick saban's dog house because he didn't necessarily ''practice well'' but he went 25-4 as a starter at LSU. He is a ''Lights on'' type of guy. not to say he doesn't bust his butt in practice, but he thrives on competing. keep in mind, this is his first training camp...he's probably tired just like the rookies. I'm looking forward to the season myself because I know he will get better weekly. as far as the deep balls floating, he takes some zip off to avoid overthrowing the receiver (probably needs to work on timing too) but the deep ball has never been a problem (watch the 05 florida game).

Posted by OregonRaider, August 13, 2008 9:25 AM

Good article. Saying things we have all been thinking.

I was on the band waggon of "why didn't Russel play more" but really why not test the two "rookie" running backs. Remember, Bush and DMAC hadn't been in one NFL game yet. They had butterflies to get rid of too. We all talk like the three headed monster is a proven trio when really they are good but Fargus could get injured and the other two have one preseason game under their belts. I am confident they will be great but they need testing and expierience too.

I worry a little about the recievers but I am willing to be pateint and wait and see if chemistry develops.

Posted by raidersfanindonkeycountry, August 13, 2008 11:24 AM

Well one would think if Coach was worried about keeping Russell healthy he would have used him more against the whiners and less against Tennessee. The Titans, after all, are much better pass rushers than the whiners.

Posted by KUSHMAN, August 13, 2008 11:26 AM

yea good write up... best one in a while.. you said it all pat now we just have to wait it out... if kiffin really thinks we're not ready to be a team then wow.. the first few reg season games are going to be UGLY ... because our running game can't carry this offense to TDs all day... so yea the passing game needs to come thro.. period.

Posted by UK Raider, August 13, 2008 2:45 PM

I love your enthusiasm and vote of confidence albert. Just want to see him on the field more. At the current rate of exposure Russell wont have had 25 attempts by the time of the opener. Barely time to get his elbow warm! If you discount last season because of lack of system knowledge, knowing your team-mates, timing etc that's far from an ideal amount. If I was J-Russ myself I'd be banging on the coach's door saying you've said I'm the starter so play me.

I used the word exposure rather than progression because we cant measure that until we've seen what he can do.

Posted by eks, August 13, 2008 3:20 PM

I can understand the path of manning for russell but why is the other path Leaf?????? Leaf was a different animal. He had character issues man. What? do you want everyone reading into his possible failures as one contingent upon his character?

#10

Posted by Coach Elkins, August 13, 2008 5:11 PM

I am speechless Patrick....wonderful piece!

100% correct!

Too bad our Head Coach always see's the glass half empty!

#11

Posted by DevDuck, August 13, 2008 8:36 PM

Just one quick vocabulary note, my friend: "peculate" means "to embezzle". I'm sure you didn't mean to say that Raider fans were/are dishonestly imbued with their sense of optimism, although that would be an amusing turn of phrase. I'm guessing you meant to say "percolate", as in "to show activity, movement, or life; grow or spread gradually; germinate".

Now to your larger point. I maintain that it is unfair to excoriate Coach Kiffin for an alleged underuse of JMR at this particular point in the preseason. Almost all starting QB's around the league are used sparingly early on, and to hold the Raiders to a different standard because they've invested many millions in JMR simply does not make sense.

I also maintain that we should all reserve judgment on whether or not JMR is being properly utilized until the final week of the preseason, when the starting unit traditionally plays most of the game.

I recognize this is hard advice to heed when you are expected to regularly pump out new, provocative content on this site, but my counsel would be to keep your powder dry for the time being. The preseason is no time to panic.

#12

Posted by Coach Elkins, August 13, 2008 9:52 PM

Duck,

With all due respect, you can maintain all you want, however, WE ALL do not need to reserve judgement regarding anything.

Your post started out as condesending, and then you further insulted us with the use of your vocabulary. Your point regarding what almost "ALL" teams do with their QBs does not apply to the Raiders, as we have the worst record in the NFL over the past 5 seasons. Russell needs experience, period!

Your only point of value was when you stated that the pre-season is no time to panic. This is a good point. However, let's be realistic here, our best pass right now might be a screen pass. Kiffin is attempting to make Russell a Play Action QB, and this is entirely against his strengths. He is not a Jay Cutler type, rather, should be a pocket passer with as many 5 and 7 step drops as he can get. Using this approach as well as some Shotgun would open the running game up even more.

Passing should be used first to open the run game, not running to pass as the Raiders and Kiffin are attempting to employ. I MAINTAIN YOU RESERVE JUDGMENT on my opinion of this Offense until the post season, when Kiffin will be fired and then we can move forward.

LOL

#13

Posted by Coach Elkins, August 13, 2008 10:00 PM

ooops, I left a crumb on the ground....

"condescending"

#14

Posted by Raider Blues, August 13, 2008 10:05 PM

Ok Ok Ok Good Article but... We've been losers for five years! We need an identity! Half of winning is the confidence to do so! Coach Kiffin had the right idea with going with what he thought would work to get a win early. Now we can look at the passing game. We can develop Russell. Ours RB's are Rookies except Fargas and he probably wanted to see that line Run Block at game speed so we have something to work from. Shift from a KNOWN POINT if you will. Patrick you are right as you often are - we need to develop Russell and the MYSTIQUE OF THE RAIDaaaas will live on if we do but Coach Kif had to do what he did to get started. Winning is an attitude and at this point we do need to have a win in preseason - sorry to say but we need something to build from if even so very small.

Good On Ya Coach Kif!

Now let's see some play action with DMC as a Safety Valve.

Timing Timing Timing - find a WR for JRuss - one he won't overthrow!

Just Win Baby!

BTW This is why we're better than the 9ers at this point. We are making progress and debating the course of action to improve and they are really going nowhere.

#15

Posted by Bill, August 13, 2008 10:06 PM

Here is some news:

Russell will play the whole first half against the Titans. Hartwell has been cut for a PUNTER? Shane pulled up lame and will not be able to kick for about 10 to 14 days. Javon is back!!! Here is my question. If we needed more comitition in camp why did we cut guys for a kicker and a punter? I know our starting kicker and punter are down. Why not just go for it on 4th down? Its only preseason.Tell me how is getting guys who will for sure get cut bringing in more compitition?

#16

Posted by Mr Football, August 13, 2008 11:15 PM

Hello Patrick, I am back and ready submit my take on the raiders and what we have seen and heard so far.

First lets start with last friday. Regarding the running game...What we saw was 3 different styles with a tremendous amount of different schemes and looks in opening up the holes... The playbook opened up there and defending the run from either of the three running backs will be difficult and confusing for other teams. Each back featured mutliple looks and demonstrated effective play making ability... As Kiffen mentioned, the oppertunity arose and he decided take it for a test drive unfortunetaly Jrock was on board during the beginning and appeared in his limited passing moments, he got comfortable and was able to read the defenses and protect the ball. Then walter appeared and running continued with the coaching staff deciding to mix it up, just like you would in a game by first establishing the run in order to establish the pass. On the passing game, Boot legs and screens with different looks seem to be the test model which further confuses defenses especially when the run can happen at will. Weather it was walter or Jrock on those calls, it was clear to me that this is part of the upcoming playbook that will be effective with little regared as to who the qb is... Check down positioning to protect the ball was also tested and the rb's and te's did a good job with the exception of stewart being in front of the first down marker when he needed to be there or beyond...This was a problem last year as well.....What I didn't see is just that from the TE's was first down awareness or any timed passing plays...I did see the qb fake...played to perfection by the whole team and do believe as well as it was executed even a qb with a leg boot would have had success in a scramble...So in the passing attack....timing plays apparently are under development with more work to come or just haven't been practice in preseason as of yet... As far as passing for a needed first down, I will be curious if the offense on check downs place themselves in correct position so that on completion the down is made at the point of the down...This is what the great teams perfect...So I will watch this as well as timing routes before passing judgement in this area...All in all on offense what we have learned is the playbook so far is exciting and effective, run blocking and the rb's are excellent and the pass blocking on bootlegs, screens and qb fakes are very effective. what we dont know is the effectiveness on timing routes and first down placements as well as drop back and deep route passing and the pass blocking that go with.... Specail teams...exciting on both sides...excluding Seabass..which will soon be discovered////moving on to defense....The d-line, safeties and lb's of the first and some of the second string....Like bees swarming honey...Opposing teams will have thier hands full trying to outplay some of these new looks on the d playbook...what I saw trouble in was defending the screen and timing patterns...Bootlegs, drop backs deep ball, outside running, both left and right interior between the tackles...excellent...what we didin't see was straight up the middle, goal line leaps and qb draws and qb running plays....So preseason 2 should answer more... So patrick look at the above ares and give your take on this after this fridays game... I know if as a whole the raiders do well or bad...people over look these except for the better teams....In preseason try to what the games with these as your evaluations and you will see what I mean.... So more than likely...reading between the lines is that kiffeen feels they need more time to open up more of the playbook and make it effective. So with limited time left, nothing like competition to motivate the players to try even harder....That is my belief on what we have seen and heard... From what I have seen and analized.. so far so good...The raiders have my attenion as well as others in my circle...

#17

Posted by Bill, August 14, 2008 12:55 AM

UK Raider, great post

#18

Posted by Thoughts from the Dark Side: Oakland Raider analysis: JaMarcus Russell�s preseason progression cruci, August 14, 2008 1:59 AM

[...] Read more. Posted in Blog, Oakland Raiders | [...]

#19

Posted by UK Raider, August 14, 2008 11:32 AM

I can see the logic in your argument Blues that winning breeds confidence and it's a nice habit to get into. But wouldn't that victory be even more sweeter if Russell had played for most of the game, thrown for 200 plus with a couple of scores to boot?! Now that would have got the saliva going would n't it?!!! Yes it could have gone the other way but then you put it down to the 'learning curve'.

While we are in agreement Coach E about Russell's playing time the rest of your comments are baffling. "Kiffin is attempting to make Russell a play-action QB" - aint seen much evidence of that but yes I want to see some of it. Both Rob and Bill commented on how basic the offense was. At this stage in proceedings I wont criticize that approach. However as our pass protection has huge question marks play fakes along with screens, swing passes, slant patterns, roll outs etc IS an effective way of keeping the defense off balance in when it comes to the passing game. Even put in the odd shovel pass. You say Russells' not that type of QB but that's football basics. I've seen even British QB's who train once a week and play on a Sunday pull a decent play fake.

You say that you want to see as many 5 and 7 step drops as he can get plus some shotgun. Why???? Deep drops on an obvious passing play + rookie QB + questionable pass protection and receiving = recipe for DISASTER. I can hear the pass rushers licking their lips. The only time I want to see Russell in a shotgun is if it's third and long or we're in a hurry up and trying to pull the game out of the bag. Hopefully if the ground game continues in similar fashion he wont see too many third and longs. I dont get it when you say the passing game should be used to open the running game. That may apply to some teams but certainly not to the Raiders at this moment in time. It's got to be the other way round. How more open do you want the ground game to be????? Yes I want to see Russell play more and yes we have to use the growing ground threat as a foil to launch the passing game.

#20

Posted by edraider, August 14, 2008 1:01 PM

hey raider nation.

we've all been blessed with an interesting draft, a manic Al Davis FA spending spree and absolute scrutiny of everything raiders thru the net and other medii. a lot has been said of Lane Kiffin. i beleive we will have a good season and he'll bring Jmac on just fine thru the preseason. they will develop the offense vertically accordingly. go raiders

#21

Posted by UK Raider, August 14, 2008 1:15 PM

Cheers Bill! Would love to hear a reply from Coach E but with the articles coming thick and fast from Rob and Pat I think he's moved on. It's not easy for me to engage in debate when I'm 8 hours in front of you but over this side of the pond you'd be surprised at some of the Brits understanding of football.

Appreciate the reply.

#22

Posted by Coach Elkins, August 14, 2008 5:55 PM

I stand by my previous post, and will take one thing away from yours: you are like Kiffin in your ideas about moving the football. You both want to avoid mistakes first, make plays 2nd.

My philospohy is the opposite...make plays first, and learn from "OUR" mistakes 2nd....mistakes, in football, as in life are unavoidable.....in fact, I've learned that to attempt to avoid them creates an even more difficult situation.

Our goal should be the Super Bowl, period....every choice must be made with this in mind....sadly, the goals the Raiders have had in the past 5 years are focusing on elements like the number of snaps our QB gets in pre-season. There is so much worry surrounding this organization thats its completely obvious to me why its so become a reality....

Good Talk...next time you attempt to DEBATE with me as you put it, make sure that's what I'm doing......

I am not here to change your mind, I am here because the Raiders need a voice of reason, and do not have one.......

Keep it gansta UKRaider!

#23

Posted by Raider Blues, August 14, 2008 10:04 PM

UK Raider only 8 hours??? I'm 12.5 in Afghanistan and I see your Mates here as I've worked with many performing very well in some cases and the opposite in other cases but hey... The internet is a good thing here.

#24

Posted by UK Raider, August 15, 2008 12:21 AM

Thanks for the reply Coach E, but I'm still going to disagree with you. Play action on first or second down is a safe, risk free way to avoid mistakes??? Not exactly, but it IS an opportunity to make a large gain when the D are all stacked up on the line trying to stop your main threat ie the run.

Raider Blues keep up up the fine work. Glad you can escape from the mayhem out there, even if it is in a Raiders web site.

#25

Posted by Raider Blues, August 15, 2008 2:35 AM

Well I hate to say it but this site sort of provides a nice get away from the business we face. I wish these guys would stop the hate and we could all move forward but until they do guys like me will help ensure they stay in check.

#26

Posted by Coach Elkins, August 15, 2008 5:01 AM

We "ALL" appreciate you both!

��

#27

Posted by angelodebo, August 15, 2008 9:56 AM

I think tonights nationally telivised game is going to be an important night for our RAIDERS! Obviously its the preseason, but a little bit of confidence can go a very long way for a young talented (skill positions) football team.

Jamarcus will need to complete some passes down the field and hopefully the O-Line will offer some protection.

Tom Kelly and the D-Line will need to stuff the middle and force the Titans to throw into our "lock down" secondary.

If those two things can happen for both first team Offense and Defense, it will be a great sign of things to come.

Tenn. is a tough football team that is def. gonna make a run at the playoffs. If the RAIDERS can play tough on the road in the 1st quarter, I'll be satisfied. Progress is being made.

Just Win Baby!