Read the opposing argument from Bleacher Fan.
When JaMarcus Russell was released by the Oakland Raiders he set the record for the shortest tenure of a quarterback taken with the first overall draft pick in the NFL’s history. His embarrassing three year stint with the Oakland Raiders, followed by his recent release, secures a lasting legacy for Oakland’s drafting of Russell as one of the worst football decisions of all time. Today’s debate compares Russell with another huge NFL failure – Ryan Leaf. While Russell’s poor performance proved to be ineffective on the football field, it is plenty effective at winning him the title of biggest draft bust.
JaMarcus Russell is the bigger bust both literally and figuratively. Even using ESPN’s flattering numbers, Russell’s 260 pounds outweighs Leaf’s 235 pounds by twenty five pounds. Considering they were both dead weight to their football teams, this adds insult to injury in this bust debate. Judging by more realistic numbers, Russell, the ineffective fatty, galumphed into camps with weights ranging from 275 to 300 plus pounds. While that sounds like a great starting point for a contestant on the Biggest Loser, it is probably not the ideal physique for a franchise quarterback. His personal battle of the bulge demonstrates that he either lacks the dedication or the desire to reach his full potential. Either way, Oakland was forced to bare the wide-load, a burden Ryan Leaf’s teams never had to shoulder.
Equally as important is the fact that Russell is a loser. That sounds harsh, and it is, but I mean that in a literal sense. Over the past three seasons with Oakland he has racked up a record of seven wins across 25 starts. This gives him the dubious honor of having the worst winning percentage of any quarterback taken with the first overall draft pick. Admittedly Leaf had an even worse career winning percentage, but I would argue that the expectations for Russell as the number one overall pick were different. Leaf was a second choice. He was selected after Peyton Manning came off the board, and cannot exactly be viewed or measured in the same regard as Russell when Russell was chosen above every other player in the 2007 draft. Sure, San Diego overpaid, but that is not a representation of how big a bust he is as much as it reflects how poor the Chargers front office was at making draft deals.
Both Russell and Leaf put up terrible numbers and failed to provide the locker room leadership so often associated with the quarterback position. But another area where Russell out-sucked Leaf was in terms of financial sabotage to their respective clubs. Leaf may have gotten a record breaking signing bonus of $11.25M, but Russell received more guaranteed money from Oakland – $31.5M to be exact – more than almost the whole of Ryan Leaf’s initial contract of $31.25M. Russell’s bust factor is compounded by the fact that he held out until September. So, not only did the Raiders epically overpay for their scrub, but he made them look foolish in the process. Numbers like these cannot simply be ignored. Russell is by far the more detrimental player in terms of financial impact.
Russell was chosen by the Raiders over cheaper and more serviceable options like Brady Quinn, Kevin Kolb, and Trent Edwards. Those are players who easily could have been acquired, not to mention the veteran talent that was available by moving the number one overall pick. If the second overall pick that was used to acquire Ryan Leaf can demand two first round picks and change, then certainly the Raiders could have traded down for something similar. Trading down could have truly helped the Raiders franchise.
JaMarcus Russell was supposed to live up to financial and talent expectations, a feat which he failed to come remotely close to completing.
We all know the sad ending to the Ryan Leaf saga, but Russell story is not yet finished. Who knows where rock bottom is for Russell? But, I am betting it is somewhere beneath Ryan Leaf’s in the history of biggest NFL busts.
