The worst NFL draft pick of all time by every team
By Erik Lambert
25. Oakland Raiders
. QB. LSU. Jamarcus Russell . 25. player. 28
A sign that Al Davis had long since lost his touch with the realities of the NFL. The late Oakland Raiders owner had always desired one thing above all else from his quarterbacks. That was arm strength. He wanted his offenses to strike down the field, going for the big play. Sometimes the strategy worked as with the likes of Darryl Lamonica, Ken Stabler, and Jim Plunkett. However, his pursuit of that type also led to the likes of Todd Marinovich and worst of all Jamarcus Russell.
Russell was a physical freak of nature. Built like a defensive end playing quarterback who could throw the ball anywhere on the field and moved well too. The Raiders envisioned big things from him. What they got instead was an immature player more interested in money and food than he was in playing football. Russell didn’t even join the team until his rookie year was almost over and when he did he was out of shape.
On the field, he was easily figured out by defenses and he never made any effort to improve. Just 31 games later, the Raiders had seen enough and he was released. No team ever bothered to pick him up afterward.