Oakland Raiders QB JaMarcus Russell has endured a lot of criticism in his brief time in the NFL.

By holding out on his first contract, Russell not only gave fans and media ammunition to deride his desire and motivation to play the game, but suffered a serious setback in his development as an NFL quarterback.

Going into his third official year, but only his second as a starter, there are still a lot of concerns and questions regarding Russell's skills, desire, potential, and maturity.

While few question his arm strength, pretty much every other part of his body has been criticized or under scrutiny. 

HEAD

Any Raiders fan worth their salt should have the most concern with this part of Russell's anatomy.

Thus far he has struggled to grasp a majority of the playbook, limiting offensive versatility.

The pictures of him partying aren't of much concern, because frankly, he's 23 and has a ton of money. I'd be partying too.

Russell is not known to be a film buff nor much of a vocal leader. His confidence is high as evidenced by the way he carries himself, and he seems impervious to criticism.

He appears to have the right kind of mentality to succeed in that he has thick skin and confidence. But he needs his football IQ to improve to match those attributes.

His ability to go through reads and progressions is sorely lacking, and with the O-Line struggling the last few years, getting the ball out quickly is of paramount importance. His lack of understanding of NFL defenses to this point make this a virtual impossibility.

Hackett and Tollner are working hard with J-Rock to improve his reads and his understanding of NFL defenses and blitz pickups. But it is on J-Rock himself to put in the extra work he needs to get his head to the level it needs to be.

Film study, meetings, discussions with Tollner and Hackett and full dedication to being the best he can be are the only way this is going to happen.

Which brings me to:

HEART

The other part of Russell's anatomy with which we in the Nation have concerns.

Will JaMarcus ever have the desire to be great? Does he already have it and just not show it? When is he going to step up and be the kind of leader we need?

Russell thus far has shown he's a cool customer, but his unflappable nature also gives the appearance of indifference at times.

Every fan wants their QB to be the most passionate, most vocal guy on the field, and J-Rock simply doesn't operate that way.

Thus, we are all a little curious as to his motivation and desire to play the game.

The addition of Jeff Garcia was meant to give a jolt to Russell's development as added motivation and learning from example.

By all accounts, J-Rock is slowly grasping what he needs to do to be successful. He took a giant step in the head and heart department by indicating he was going to have a private workout session with tight ends and receivers.

If that happens, and if it's done well, then concerns about his heart should begin to wane a little.

If it doesn't happen, or if it's not done very well, then the questions will amplify. He needs to show desire, passion, and the want to be great before his teammates or the Nation will buy into him completely.

RIGHT ARM

There are no concerns with how hard or how far J-Rock can throw the ball. None. The guy has one of the strongest arms anyone has ever seen, and some of the lasers he fits into tight coverage are a glimpse of why we drafted him. No, arm strength is not a concern.

Accuracy, on the other hand, is a major concern.

As a very strong-armed QB, it's understandable that J-Rock throws the lasers quite well. His touch passes, however, leave a lot to be desired.

He either overthrows or underthrows targets when he's asked to put any kind of touch on the ball, and quite often he isn't even close to his target unless it's a zip slant pass or a long bomb.

For a strong-armed QB, he's also shown a concerning lack of accuracy on his long passes.

The talent in the arm is there, and the accuracy will come as his mechanics improve. He does fumble an awful lot for a guy with hands the size of Saturn, but the arm is not a concern. Nor is:

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?