Ravens interested in Jamarcus Russell?

[The Excellector]

I mean, if you really look at Russell, he had everything that you wanted from a QB except the intangible, more emotional traits that you would want. From a physical standpoint, it is understandable that they had him rated higher than Calvin Johnson.

[JAB1985]

at one time, Ryan Leaf and Peyton Manning were 1a and 1b on draft boards...

Do we know where the ravens had them ranked? Not sure its valid in this case. Most teams dont have our success. We were high on him then which explains why wed be interested now.

[Ravenswintitle]

Do we know where the ravens had them ranked? Not sure its valid in this case. Most teams dont have our success. We were high on him then which explains why wed be interested now.

at the time, they just finished a 13 win season and knew they weren't picking at the top of the draft. Not sure how much effort they would put into grading a QB who was sure to go top 3 and not a position of need (at least they thought)

[bensmotorcyclehelmt]

Jamarcus was a starter in the NFL, albeit for a lousy, losing team.

But the Raiders were a mess. And they have picked high enough in the draft for the past decade+ to have possibly lucked out a few times...

It's my feeling that Ozzie likes Raiders (and All Davis type picks) because they were mostly highly thought of guys coming out of college and are usually big, fast and strong. One of the biggest criticisms of the radiers is not the guys themselves, but the round and spot they are picked in the draft and how they were subsequently used.

I see no harm in giving those types of guys a second look.

Also forgotten is that there's a book on everyone in the NFL. And no one's seen Jamarcus for a few years.
It's good business to look at everyone. In case they fit a need OR get signed by a competittor.

[moose10101]

Dang. He looks different:

[Ravenswintitle]

$50K Escalade, diamond watch and earrings parked in front of a $40K house with a beat up charcoal grill.

CFL here he comes

[LukeDaniel]

Jamarcus Russell and Ryan Leaf are not anywhere in the same level of bust IMO. I know I've said that a number of times here every time this topic comes up.

Russell did one thing that Leaf never did....turned in one semi-respectable NFL season....at age 23, nonetheless. In his second year, on a 5-11 Raider team, he passed for 2400 yards in 15 stars with a 13/8 TD-INT ratio and 77.1 passer rating. His last year in Oakland, which was abysmal seems to erase our memories of his 2008 season, which was at least somewhat encouraging.

Leaf never offered any encouragement. His best NFL season (out of a whopping 3) featured a 50% passing% and a 11TD-18INT ratio with a 56.2 QBrating.

His career record was 4-17. His rookie year he had 2 TDs and 15 INTs in 9 starts. His completion % was 45.3 and his QB rating was 39.0 That year, his INT rate (6.1) was greater than his Yards/attempt (5.3) I can't find a single example of any QB post 1980 who had 100 attempts and a INT rate higher than Y/A and with Leaf it wasn't even close. By comparison, Russell's 2008 season featured a 2.2 INT rate (very impressive) and a 6.6 Y/A. By additional comparison, Flacco's WORST NFL season had a 2.8 INT% and 6.9 Y/A. In 80 NFL regular season starts, Flacco has only had 4 starts that were worse than Leaf's season rating of 39.0.

Somehow SD went 3-6 in his 9 starts as a rookie, despite the 2TDs-15INTs.

[LukeDaniel]

In fact, if we are doing a countdown of NFL QB busts, I'm not sure Akili Smith isn't higher on the list than Russell.

Smith was the #3 overall pick, but he was taken in the QB draft that was supposed to be akin to that of the 83 draft and was beyond pitiful.

Smith's career line:

3-14 career record
215 career completions
46.6 comp %
2212 career yards
5TD-13INT
4.8 Yards/attempt
52.8 QB rate
59 sacks/461 pass attempts



Russell's career line:

7-18 career record
354 completions
52.1 comp %
4083 career yards
18TD-23INT
6.0 yards/attempt
65.2 QB rate
70 sacks/ 680 pass attempts

[bt12483]

I read somewhere the ravens had Russell ranked higher than Calvin johnson on their draft board.

[LukeDaniel]

Lastly, I'm not sure Heath Shuler wasn't a bigger bust than Russell. Shuler was the 3rd overall pick and had slightly worse #s. I'll go with Russell by a whisker over Shuler for the #3 bust of my football fan span.


#5- Cade McNown
#4- Heath Shuler
#3- Jamarcus Russell
#2- Akili Smith
#1- Ryan Leaf

[LukeDaniel]

I read somewhere the ravens had Russell ranked higher than Calvin johnson on their draft board.

The Ravens were coming off a 13-3 season the year that Megatron and Russell were drafted, so where either was ranked is largely irrelevant.