If Gradkowski Is Out: Time For The Charlie Frye Experiment To Begin

With Bruce Gradkowski’s season in doubt after suffering tears to the medial collateral ligament (MCL) in both his knees against the Washington Redskins on Sunday the Oakland Raiders have some decisions to make.  The most important of which is, if Gradkowski is ruled out for the next game, or even the rest of the season, who’s going to start at Quarterback?

We know from the first 9 games of the season that JaMarcus Russell is not the answer at Quarterback in the immediate future.  If Raider fans were not sure of that fact going into Sundays’ game, they were given a sharp reminder after Russell replaced the injured Gradkowski after half-time.  Fans and coaches alike, watched as a winnable game quickly unfolded into one of the blow-out/ domination's that the Raiders produced too often during this first 9 games.

That leaves the team with 3^rd string quarterback Charlie Frye.  When Head Coach Tom Cable originally benched Russell four weeks ago, he proclaimed that Frye “deserved to be part of the discussion”.   He praised Frye’s intelligence, his work ethic and his ability to understand and even teach the offense.   In the preseason Frye and Gradkowski put up very similar numbers and it looked as though they were battling for the 3^rd quarterback job together until the unexpected departure of Jeff Garcia.

If Gradkowski is unable to make it back due to his damaged MCL’s who is going to be starting for the last three games of the season?  I think most Raider fans and most of the coaches think it should be someone other than Jamarcus Russell.  Frye is the only viable option in this case.

The Raiders could try to bring Garcia back for the last few games, but I think there might be too much bad blood there.  Another possibility is that if the Raiders are going to look to next year, they can bring in one of the successful quarterbacks from the new Untied Football league (UFL).  Now that the UFL season is over, league leaders Brooks Bollinger and JP Losman are both available.  It is not clear if either of these quarterbacks would offer anything more than some depth if Gradkowski is unable to play the last few games, but they may have regained some confidence and be able to produce if neither Russell or Frye are the solution as the season winds down.

If Gradkowski is not physically able to get back on the field this season, it is time for the Charlie Frye experiment to begin in Oakland.