Nice read on our future QB

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Russell ready to reap rewards as NFL quarterback

Thursday, January 04, 2007
http://www.al.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/sports/1167905826199250.xml&coll=3

NEW ORLEANS -- JaMarcus Russell has always been pretty good at keeping secrets, waiting until the last possible minute to let the world know his plans.

As a star recruit out of Mobile's Williamson High School, Russell waited until late in the afternoon on National Signing Day to announce his college choice. The Atlanta-based program "Countdown to Signing Day" picked up the tab for Russell and family members to fly to Georgia to reveal that he had chosen LSU. On that afternoon, there was a hint of suspense, as most followers of the recruiting process believed Florida State at least had a small shot to land Russell's services.

Fast-forward four years and Russell is once again non-committal regarding his future. Will he remain at LSU one more season and pursue the Heisman Trophy for a team that would likely contend for a national title with the 6-foot-6, 260-pounder under center? Or will Russell bypass his senior season and cash in on certain NFL riches this spring?

Russell's uncle, popular Mobile radio talk show host Ray Ray Russell, said earlier this week his nephew will take all of the time he is allotted before making a decision to go pro or remain in college. LSU coach Les Miles will visit Russell at his Mobile home sometime in the next few days to discuss the situation, and Russell figures to listen to Miles with an open mind.

But let's get serious. If the big fella decides to hang around and terrorize the Southeastern Conference for another season, it will be an upset along the lines of Boise State over Oklahoma or, better yet, Toledo over Ohio State. Given Russell's performance in the second half of the season -- a stretch that culminated with Wednesday night's win over Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl -- and the dearth of quality quarterbacks in the NFL, there's really no decision to make.

The NFL regular season ended Sunday, and the order for April's NFL draft is set. Oakland, with Aaron Brooks and Andrew Walter, picks first. Detroit, with Jon Kitna under center, has the second selection. Cleveland, which struggled mightily with Charlie Frye calling signals, has the third pick. Tampa Bay, which was forced to turn to rookie Bruce Gradkowski after Chris Simms went down with a severe injury, picks fourth.

Get the picture? Of the top 10 teams in the draft -- a group that is rounded out by Arizona, Washington, Minnesota, Houston, Miami and Atlanta -- at least five of those teams have a gaping hole at quarterback and Russell is easily the best quarterback in the country.

Notre Dame's Brady Quinn is a superb player. He's 6-4, 233 pounds, and he's enjoyed two seasons under the tutelage of former New England Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis. He's a golden boy of sorts -- nice-looking, mechanically sound and as marketable as cold lemonade on a hot summer day. Quinn is often compared favorably to the Patriots' Tom Brady, and the link to Weis makes him an easy sell to NFL scouts looking for a sure thing to build their franchise around. Several scouts polled Wednesday before the Sugar Bowl said Quinn is likely the most game-ready of the quarterbacks available this spring.

Ohio State's Troy Smith is a wonderful player, as well. However, the Heisman Trophy winner is listed at 6 feet tall, and NFL personnel can't wait to measure him at the Senior Bowl later this month in Mobile. Smith can make the throws, he's intelligent and athletic and his leadership skills are unquestioned. However, the tape measure is probably going to cement Smith's status as a second-rounder, and no NFL personnel director who wants a future in the league would dare take him with Russell or Quinn on the board.

In fact, one NFL executive in attendance at the Superdome Wednesday said Russell would go no lower than sixth in the draft and as high as No. 1 overall. Quarterbacks get pushed up in the draft, he said, and Russell is likely to grade out higher than several of the quarterbacks who have entered the NFL in recent years. In other words, Russell's upside is so high that few teams could consider bypassing him to fill another need. In a league where the quarterback position is so critical -- just ask Nick Saban -- Russell is the kind of player a franchise could build around for a decade. Quinn will be solid, no doubt. Barring injury, however, Russell will be a superstar.

"If the Raiders want a big-armed guy who can throw the deep ball and fit their personality, he's bound to be their guy," said the executive, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "Really, I don't see any way the two quarterbacks (Russell and Quinn) don't go 1-2. It's almost a lock."

Russell has refused to even give so much as a hint about his future, and his poker face is almost as good as his cannon arm, cool demeanor and mobility in the pocket. Still, after Wednesday's performance, one in which he out-performed Quinn on the same stage, the cat's probably out of the bag and LSU's most talented Tiger is probably out of Baton Rouge.


Contact Neal McCready at:


nmccready@press-register.com
 
Well, Russell's uniform #2 will surely be available... I guess January 15 is the big day for this wait to the last minute mofo...




On that afternoon, there was a hint of suspense, as most followers of the recruiting process believed Florida State at least had a small shot to land Russell's services.
Click to expand...

So close jack, so close...
 
hawaiianboy said:
Well, Russell's uniform #2 will surely be available... I guess January 15 is the big day for this wait to the last minute mofo...


So close jack, so close...
Click to expand...

It was especially sucky coming on the heels of Adrian McPherson and Joe Mauer ...
 
Sheesh... I opened this thread fully expecting a Jake Plummer article.
 
#2....now there's a WINNING number! Thanks #2 for going 0-10 in your starts this year....yeah i wanna continue that tradition.
 
hawaiianboy said:
Hi Fang... Still doing that drag queen thang?...
Click to expand...
Yeesh. You gotta be kidding me. I thought this was an exclusive club.

Get the banning wand out, Cross Bones.


Er. Wait. That didn't sound right. :o
 
Russell is still a project and given Al's presumed desire to win now, I'm not sure he would take this guy at #1. However, if he slid a bit before the draft and we could package some picks for another 1st rounder, it could very well happen.
 
I'm not college football savyy like some of you, I just don't feel good about this Russell. His career stats don't = a No.1 pick.

Don't know who I want yet, prob AP, its a drag to have the No. 1 when noone seems deserving.
 
I like Russell's arm -- who wouldn't. I'm concerned about his ability to read defenses at this point. Quinn is way ahead of him in that area. Quinn isn't exactly a New England midget himself --- 6'4" and is fairly mobile.

I'm with the trade down crowd but I don't think Al will unless he can totally rob somebody in the process.
 
I could see Al trading down IFFFF he doesn't view one of these players as a sure fire Hall of Game type player.

This is the reason that Al attempts to trade up so often, because he's chasing "greatness". So, if he see's a signficant flaw in Quinn, Russel, Petersen or Johnson, I could see him trying to fleece somebody.

Of course if see's that "special thing" with a given player, he's holdin' this damn pick. To me the two players that might evoke that feeling are Calvin Johnson and......DeMarcus Russell. Russel even more so because he makes a ton of sense:

1.) Great atheltic talent. If the rumors are true that he wanted Vince Young, I could see Russel appealing to him.

2.) Great size and big arm. Al covets both attributes in a QB.

3.) Merchandising & fan base - I firmly believe that a DeMarcus Russell would generate a lot of excitement in Oakland for reason's of potential & for social reason's.

If Russell impresses at the combine, which I believe he will, this could very well be our next pick. BTW, if we draft him, I want to see him play his rookie year. Maybe Walter or another veteran starts, but Russell should eventually supplant him or at least get a scripted series or two each game.

Even if (big IF) Walter actually becomes a decent QB, there is nada wrong with having two good QB's on the roster. Depth, trade bait, etc. Nothing wrong at all.
 
For the record...for ANYONE who has spelled his name wrong...its Jamarcus Russell...not Damarcus...just want to clear that up :p
 
I'm starting to scare myself...

I'm still firmly in the AP or trade down crowd...

but Jamarcus Russell... doesnt sound like a bad idea seeing what vince has done, culpepper, etc...

If we can move Moss and aquire another 1st then I'm in the Russell crowd.

If not then AP for me.
 
MasterRaider said:
For the record...for ANYONE who has spelled his name wrong...its Jamarcus Russell...not Damarcus...just want to clear that up :p
Click to expand...
Well it's formatted like this: JaMarcus Russell. ;)
 
Ok, if we draft him I'm better Al refers to him at least one time as JaMarcus Allen.
 
Russell decides to go pro
http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/5154057.html?showAll=y&c=y
Miles: LSU losing ‘quality man’
By CARL DUBOIS
Advocate sportswriter
Published: Jan 11, 2007


JaMarcus Russell said he knew late in the 2006 season he would leave LSU, forfeiting an opportunity to play as a senior so he could play professional football.

Russell announced his decision Wednesday afternoon to do just that.

With family members lining the walls inside an LSU conference room, Russell, wearing a dark Navy suit with a Nike swoosh on the lapel, credited his opportunity to sacrifices made by his parents, uncle and grandmother in raising him.

“There were days they went to work when they probably didn’t feel like it, but knowing they had to,” Russell said, “and I’m telling momma, in the next couple of days or couple of months she can quit her job.”

Football analysts project Russell as one of the first players, maybe the first quarterback, to be selected in the NFL Draft scheduled for April 28-29 in New York.

The Oakland Raiders hold the rights to the first pick, and Russell said he’s always dreamed of being the No. 1 draft choice.

“I can say whoever picks first, whoever pays the most,” Russell said of his hopes.

He said reports he had signed with an agent were untrue, and he broke up the room with his answer to whether he’d reached an endorsement deal with Nike.

“As far as for the swoosh,” Russell said, “I was thinking that would be a good eye-catcher to Nike.”

Russell’s departure leaves LSU with two quarterbacks on scholarship: Matt Flynn, who would be a fifth-year senior this fall, and Ryan Perrilloux, who would be a sophomore.
Perrilloux’s status is uncertain after being identified late Wednesday as the subject of a federal criminal investigation. At the news conference to announce Russell’s decision, LSU coach Les Miles said he had no information about Perrilloux’s legal situation.

Miles said the Tigers would miss Russell beyond his athletic ability.

“We’re going to miss him more as a person, as a tremendous leader, a quality man,” he said, “and those shoes will be harder to fill than the ability to throw it deep and make a great play.”
Miles said the competition to succeed Russell will be a two-man race in spring practice.

“There’s plenty of snaps to take all spring long for two quarterbacks,” Miles said. “We’ll certainly get a good view of who’s best.”

Russell, who finished his career in the top five in every passing category listed in LSU statistics and record books, said his strong junior season made it clear to him he wouldn’t have a senior season.

“If I would have had a bad season, I would have come back and finished it out on a good note,” said Russell, a native of Mobile, Ala.

He finished the 2006 season third in the nation in passing efficiency.

Russell and his family began thinking seriously about the NFL Draft during the season and petitioned the NFL for a predraft analysis of his standing with the league’s scouts, his uncle, Ray-Ray Russell said.

The younger brother of the quarterback’s mother, Ray-Ray Russell said nobody in the family considered it a done deal until the analysis reflected intense interest by the NFL.

“We’ve always talked about it, but never in stone,” he said. “JaMarcus never went the whole season saying, ‘I’m going to go pro.’

“It was never like that, but if he were to come out and have a good year and they were saying what we wanted to hear, of course, we were going to look at it and size up the situation. You’d be a fool not to.”

Russell’s uncle was the quarterback’s closest adviser. Ray-Ray Russell said he and his nephew knew in the preseason that a projection of being drafted among the top 10 to 15 players would be their sign the time was right to leave college for pro football.

Ray-Ray Russell said NFL scouts, insiders and others who frequent Mobile — the site of the Senior Bowl, a predraft showcase for college seniors — told him his nephew is ready.

During the fourth quarter of LSU’s 41-14 victory over Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl, a game in which Russell threw for a career-best 332 yards, LSU fans urged him to return, chanting, “One more year!”

Those chants came when Miles took Russell out of the game for a curtain call signaling the end of the season. Ray-Ray Russell said he knew it was the end of a college career.

“When they took him out,” he said, “after all the camps, after all the spring games, after all the long talks, I broke down. I broke down because I felt my work as far as influencing him was done.”

Miles said he didn’t try to talk Russell into staying. Instead, he said, he made sure he and his family had all the information they needed to make an informed choice.

“I think they made a great decision,” Miles said.

Miles, a former NFL assistant coach, said he expects Russell to get in top physical shape and work out for scouts. That could include private workouts for the top handful of teams in the draft order.

Prospects also take tests to assess their cognitive skills, leadership ability, intelligence and other assets. Miles said he thinks Russell will fare well when teams measure his 6-foot-6, 257-pound body, his physical abilities and his mental acuity.

“They’ll find that, one, he’s a very bright student of the game,” Miles said. “He’s going to understand what a secondary’s supposed to look like and what the reads are.

“He’ll understand his footwork. He’ll understand his mechanics. He’ll be able to make every throw. He’s going to be bright enough to pick up new systems.”

Miles said Russell was smart enough to change LSU play calls at the line of scrimmage, another asset that should endear him to NFL coaches and front office personnel.

“What they see is a big, tall quarterback that can run some and make all the throws,” Miles said. “When they find out about him and they talk to him, his stock will rise even further.”

Russell and his family arrived late, delaying the news conference for nearly an hour. After apologizing, Russell thanked God, Miles, former LSU coach Nick Saban and former LSU assistant coach Jimbo Fisher, who coached the quarterbacks for the last seven years.

Russell also thanked “everyone at LSU,” including the fans, “the 92,000 that are out there every week.”

He spoke briefly before opening the news conference for questions.

“I’ve kind of run out of words to say because I’m so overwhelmed about the situation,” he said, calling it new ground for him and his family.
 
Part II... :)

USA Today said:
Consider Russell.


On a Saturday draft day that changed his life, Russell, 21, was more concerned with doing everything possible to preserve the life of his uncle Ray, who helped raise JaMarcus and has been on a heart-transplant list for two years while suffering from cardiomyopathy.

The top overall pick and newest Oakland Raider appears to have a heart as big as his John Elway-esque arm. He wears a lime-green bracelet reading, "Donate Life," Russell's way of promoting organ and tissue donations.

"I'm very happy to share this draft dream with him. But I'll be more happy when he gets everything right with his health," Russell says. "Hopefully, he lasts for a long time.

"I figured whatever I do to help him can really influence other people to try and do the same thing for others. Any way I can, I'm going to be there to help, because he's always been there for me."

Ray Russell, 39, wants people to know about his nephew's quiet caring. "He's my sister's son, but he's like my own son. JaMarcus would give you the shirt off his back."

Now JaMarcus is in a position to help and influence multitudes of people.

"I did radio for 14 years at an FM station back home in Mobile, Ala., and I could only reach 100,000 people," Ray says.

"But when you have JaMarcus wearing that green wristband for the Alabama organ donation center or walking in the heart walk, it reaches worldwide. Every chance he gets when we have something going on, he participates."

The LSU quarterback, who opted for the draft after his junior season, opened his two-bedroom apartment to his girlfriend's grandfather and 22 other Hurricane Katrina evacuees after the killer storm.

His girlfriend's grandfather turned out to be renowned musician Fats Domino.

"It was a tough time where people lost everything," Russell recalls. "I felt like, you never know if you'll experience a similar situation, would anybody help you? I gave him a helping hand."
When asked how much teams emphasized character to him during the predraft process, Russell answers, "A lot. The guy that I am, and the mom that I have, that won't be a problem. I know right from wrong."

Maybe Russell is the Silver and Black's antidote for going 15-49 since losing Super Bowl XXXVII after the 2002 season. In going 2-14 last season, owner Al Davis' Raiders had two more losses than offensive touchdowns.

"He told me that he likes touchdowns," Russell says, referring to Davis. "I told him I did, too. So we're going to try to make some things happen."

The 6-6, 265-pound Russell is Goliath with David's slingshot for an arm.

"He has unbelievable skills in the pocket for a young guy," Vick says.

Russell was hopeful of teaming with Randy Moss to form one of the game's most dynamic quarterback-receiver duos. But that dream evaporated when the New England Patriots pulled off the capstone to arguably the league's strongest offseason makeover when they sent a fourth-round pick to Oakland for Moss, the talented but temperamental receiver.

The Raiders did import weapons for Russell. They traded for former Lions receiver Mike Williams and chose Arizona State tight end Zach Miller in the second round and Louisville running back Michael Bush in the fourth.

Coach Lane Kiffin says Russell will compete with veteran quarterback Josh McCown, acquired along with Williams, and incumbent Andrew Walter for playing time.

"The two quickest releases I ever saw were Joe Namath and Dan Marino," says Tom Martinez, Tom Brady's throwing coach, who worked with Russell before the combine.

"Those two are as good as it's ever been done. This guy's in the same class with Namath and Marino. The ball jumps out of his hand effortlessly."

Says St. Louis Rams coach Scott Linehan: "He's got everything physically, and he's a sharp kid mentally. I had Daunte Culpepper in Minnesota, and there's a lot of comparisons because of their size and arm strength. Daunte redshirted his rookie year and was a highly coveted first-round pick.

"Time will tell. The expectations are always unrealistic the higher guys get drafted."

The question is: When will Russell be ready?

"He's an incredibly talented quarterback," ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski says. "There's no question, when you look at his physical tools, they jump right off the table. The guy's got a strong arm and has the complete inventory of every throw needed in the NFL. He can throw from different platforms when there's pressure. He can throw it sidearm, over the top, whatever it takes to get the ball out."

But Jaworski points to Russell's age and the fact that he started only 29 games in college.

"I still think he needs a little pocket maturity," Jaworski says.
"He has a tendency to leave the pocket a little bit too quickly and not balance his feet when he throws. Those are correctable problems with repetitions and experience."

Don't expect Oakland to throw Russell to the wolves who patrol NFL defenses before he's ready.

"I've talked to the Raiders, and what they want to do is get a mobile guy in there, put Josh on the field right away as the veteran and let them square up their offensive-line issues," Sirius NFL Radio analyst Pat Kirwan says.

"Let them fix everything and then bring the kid out. You don't want the kid out there and everybody's still trying to figure out how to block."

Russell looks to last year's Big Three quarterbacks — Young, Leinart and the Denver Broncos' Jay Cutler— and their rookie success as inspiration to see the field sooner than later.

"They're my motivation," Russell says.



http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/draft/2007-05-02-sw-draft-review_N.htm
Click to expand...
 
Anybody else get tingley when Martinez compares JR's release to Marino's. The more I read about this guy the easier he is to root for. Helping his family was obviously a factor in his leaving LSU. That and his best friend and #1 target leaving. Why in the world would anyone stay? 70 millions is enough of a reason for anyone, but factor in the other stuff and this must have been an easy choice.
Quick release, monster arm, durable frame, mobility, leadership and a good attitude? His only negatives are what again? Limited starts....
 
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