The Oakland Raiders will get a glimpse of the future as they will be starting JaMarcus Russell at QB.  Russell has a lot to learn about playing QB in the NFL but he has the tools to be a really good one.  Russell has one of the strongest arms in all of football as he can easily flip the ball 60 yards on a line.  He also is mobile enough to buy himself extra time in the pocket to deliver the ball.  He must be more careful of trying to fit the ball into tight spots and getting intercepted.  Russell played in 4 games (1 start) for the Raiders last season and he completed 36 of 66 passes (54.5%) for 373 yards with 2 TD passes and 4 interceptions (55.9 QB Rating).  Russell also carried the ball 5 times for 4 yards (0.8 ypc).  The Raiders were smart in adding WR Javon Walker and RB Darren McFadden to the offense to give Russell some big time weapons.  It will be sink or swim with Russell as he will be thrown entirely to the wolves because the Raiders’ likely don’t trust his backups to do a good job.

Andrew Walter will be the #2 QB for the Raiders this season.  Walter has a strong arm but he’s a sitting duck in the pocket as he doesn’t move well.  He proved his toughness though a couple of years ago when he took an absolute beating behind the then horrible O-Line of the Raiders and he kept coming back for more.  Walter played in 1 game (0 starts) last season for the Raiders and he completed 5 of 8 passes (62.5%) for 38 yards without a TD pass or an interception (74.0 QB Rating).  He didn’t get a chance to run the football last season.  Walter would probably be able to do a much better job this season if forced into action with all of the new weapons the Raiders have added in the off season.  Walter has now played in 13 games (8 starts) in his NFL career and he has completed 152 of 284 passes (53.5%) for 1,715 yards with 3 TD passes and 13 interceptions (56.3 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 14 times for 30 yards (2.1 ypc).

The Raiders have brought back Marques Tuiasosopo to hold a clipboard as the #3 QB.  He falls short in just about every skill a NFL QB would need except that he runs well.  He was the Jets’ #3 QB last season but he didn’t get to play.  Tuiasosopo has now played in 11 games (2 starts) in his NFL career and he has completed 48 of 88 passes (54.5%) for 550 yards with 2 TD passes and 7 interceptions (48.0 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 15 times for 68 yards (4.5 ypc).

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON:  D