Las Vegas Raiders April Fools: 5 worst draft picks in history
1. JaMarcus Russell, QB, 1st overall in 2007
Lost in all of the criticism levied towards the Raiders for drafting Jamarcus Russell number one overall is that nearly all of the experts agreed that he was a can’t-miss prospect. Russell had an excellent college career at LSU and his combination of size and athleticism made him a unique player and his cannon arm surely had Al Davis dreaming of sixty-yard touchdown bombs to speedy receivers.
Russell had all of the natural ability and talent in the world but the pure fact of the matter was that he never cared enough about football to apply himself in any meaningful way. Questions about his work ethic came up during the pre-draft process and were raised by Detroit Lions executive and former Raider Matt Millen but the team was too enamored with his ability to heed the warnings.
After being selected first overall, Russell held out before his rookie season and that likely cost him a real chance at competing for the starting job. Russell just started just one game his rookie year and only started 25 games over three seasons. His ineptitude showed in his limited appearances as he put up just 4,083 yards, 18 touchdowns, 23 interceptions, and a 52.1 completion percentage as he eventually lost his job to much less heralded quarterbacks like Bruce Gradkowski and Charlie Frye.
Over three unremarkable seasons with the Raiders, Russell was notorious for his lack of work ethic and was consistently overweight and out of shape. Some of the other players on this list had issues with substance abuse but Russell’s primary issue was that he never wanted to improve or put any real effort towards his game.
Next. What did the Raiders with the 12th and 19th picks in past NFL Drafts?. dark
He had made it all the way to the NFL on his talent and perhaps thought he could continue to play well without putting forth the effort but the level in the league doesn’t allow for that. The only consolation for the Raiders is that this was a notoriously poor quarterback draft but there were a number of Hall of Fame caliber players they could have picked that were far more worthy of that number one pick.