Oakland Raiders Addition of J.P. Losman May Signal The End For Russell

With Bruce Gradkowski injured and possibly out for the remaining three games of the 2009 season, the Raiders were faced with turning to either one of their back-up quarterbacks; JaMarcus Russell or Charlie Frye.

JaMarcus Russell entered the season as the number 1 quarterback and looked terrible over the first 9 games of the season, directing his team to a 2-7 record and resulting in him being benched in favor of Gradkowski.  Russell's horrible frist half of the season, coupled with an equally poor performance against the Washington Redskins in releif of Gradkowski, left little confidence in the former number 1 overall draft pick heading into the final three games of the season.

Head coach Tom Cable was left to choose between the inept Russell or the untested 3rd quarterback Charlie Frye.  Frye, who has previously started for Cleveland and Seattle might be a viable option for the Raiders.  His numbers were not that much different then Gradkowski's in the preseason and he was productive in his first season with the Browns.  If Cable feels he cannot trust Russell with the Offense, then Frye is the likely choice.

The addition of J.P. Losman to the equation isn't going to change the decision between Russell and Frye for the upcoming game against Denver.  It's going to take some time for Losman to learn the Raiders' offense and be ready to play.  Depending on his learning curve, he may not be a viable option at quarterback until the final game of the season.  Then why sign him?

The Raiders should be fine with two quarterbacks on the roster for the final three games.  The odds of both getting injured are low, so Losman likely was not brought in to be an emergency quarterback.  If the Raiders were simply looking for an emergency quarterback they could have brought Andrew Walter back, since he knows the Raiders' system already.  The likely reason for the Losman signing is that the Raiders are looking to the future.  Possibly a future without JaMarcus Russell.

When Russell replaced Gradkowski this week it was clear to anyone paying attention to the game that the team simply quit on him.  After the 2nd series, everone realized this was the same Russell that wasn't able to run the offense and the team collapsed around him.  Al Davis was forced to watch Russell squander his second chance.  He watched as his other highly paid and talented players became frustrated, defeated and angry, and he may have finally come to a realization.  The JaMarcus Russell the Raiders currently have, isn't one that can lead his team.

Looking to next year Davis had a few options.  The First option:  Let Bruce Gradkowski be your quarterback of the future.  I'm sure this makes Davis nervous.  Gradkowski had a great 2 out of 3 games for the Raiders, but that isn't enough to base the future of the franchise on.  The second option: Draft another Quarterback next year.  The hope here is that it would be a later round quarterback that wouldn't require a big paycheck.  This is a crap shoot and with the Raiders' track record drafting quarterbacks, this really is a bad option.  The thrid option:  Bring in an experienced back-up who can compete with Gradkowski in the preseason for the job.  This is exactly what the Raiders are doing with Losman, they're just getting a head start.

Bringing in Losman now will give the Raiders a longer amount of time to look at him.  It means he will have more time to learn the offense, get to know his recievers and build a relationship with the coaches and players.  This means Losman and Gradkowski will be on even footing when the preseason rolls around.  Losman will even have the advantage as he's the prototypical big arm quaterback Al Davis loves.

Losman is a starting NFL caliber quarterback.  In his first full season starting with Buffalo in 2006 he had a 62.5 completion percentage.  After that he was hampered by injuries and eventually replaced by Trent Edwards in 2007.  He was then relegated to being a back up, but eventually left Buffalo to play in the United Football League.  This year he lead the Las Vegas franchise to the UFL championship under head coach Jim Fassel.  Fassel is known for getting the most out of quarterbacks and worked closely with Losman to help further his development.

Losman likely decided to come to the Raiders because he thought he had a realistic chance of being a long term starting quarterback in Oakland.  If next preseason there is a quarterback competition that includes Losman, Gradkowski, Frye and Russell, we may see the last of JaMarcus Russell in a Raider uniform.