Why Bother?

It’s a question you can redundantly ask at most Raiders press conferences but it was most appropriate after a recent announcement in Oakland. Tom Cable unveiled the Raiders’ plan to start Bruce Gradkowski at quarterback this weekend in place of JaMarcus Russell.

The Raiders are at their normal point in the season, five games under .500 through seven games, and looking forward to next year at this point. If they are trying to send a message to Russell, good for them. If they are trying to reward a defense for their resilience during a season in which their offense has been disgustingly inept, good for them. If they are trying to find a new signal caller for next season and think the answer is Gradkowski, good god they are crazy.

Russell is in the midst of one of the worst seasons ever by a starting quarterback but they have so much money invested in the LSU product that throwing in the towel on him at this point would make things even worse in Raiderland. Russell is currently completing 46.8% of his passes, has four and a half times as many interceptions (9) as touchdowns (2) and has a quarterback rating of 47.7. There are no signs of improvement in any aspect of his game and it looks as though he’s just another in a long line of Raider busts. That said, keep him in the lineup, cross your fingers and hope for the best.