Gone are Aaron Brooks and Marques Tuiasosopo and they’ve been replaced with first round pick JaMarcus Russell and Josh McCown.  McCown and Russell will battle for the starting job this season but the Raiders are hoping that JaMarcus Russell will win the job.  Russell has unbelievable talent as he routinely can throw the ball 65 yards as he has a rocket launcher attached to his right shoulder.  He also has enough mobility to avoid the pass rush and playing behind the Raiders offensive line makes that an essential skill.  If Russell wins the starting job, look for the Raiders to play a vertical type passing attack to stretch the football field.

Josh McCown has bounced around from Arizona to Detroit to Oakland.  McCown isn’t that special as a QB but he can make all of the throws needed to succeed.  He’s also a good athlete that can avoid the pass rush and run when he has to.  McCown played in 2 games last season for the Lions and believe it or not it was at WR.  He caught 2 passes for 15 yards last season.  McCown has played in 35 games (22 starts) in his NFL career and he has completed 498 of 862 passes (57.8%) for 5,431 yards with 25 TD passes and 29 Interceptions (72.1 QB Rating).  He also has carried the football 94 times for 429 yards (4.6 ypc) with 3 TD runs and he’s caught 3 passes for 10 yards (3.3 avg).

Poor Andrew Walter is still around after the severe beating he took last season.  It was almost impossible to judge anything about him last season as he was often getting drilled before he could set his feet to throw the football.  Walter played in 12 games (8 starts) last season and he completed 147 of 276 passes (53.3%) for 1,677 yards with 3 TD passes and 13 INTs (55.8 QB Rating).  He also carried the football 14 times for 30 yards (2.1 ypc).  Walter can breathe easy this season as he will only see the field if Russell and McCown both get hurt.