Titans express interest in JaMarcus Russell

Why, I have no idea. I know Locker got hurt, but if they want to take a chance on someone, why not Josh Freeman? They can get him ultra cheap, as Tampa owes him money for this year, even though they released him and, although he's not Joe Montana, he has played at a higher level than Russell, plus he has less baggage.

Even now, Russell's commitment to the game has to be questioned because when the Titans contacted his camp, they were told he was unable to try out because of a knee injury he suffered while training. I know there's 2 schools of thought on this one, but if I were trying to get another chance in the NFL and one of the knocks on me was my commitment and work ethic, unless I'm confined to a wheel chair, I'm numbing my knee up and going to Nashville to try out.

This one is a real head scratcher.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9781054/jamarcus-russell-contacted-tennessee-titans-source-says

 

Exactly. That's what's so hard to understand about Tenn. contacting him.

 

The Texans might be better with him under center. Sure he was been fat, lazy, and stupid during his NFL tenure, but at least he wasn't a reliable pick 6 machine. It's pretty much impossible to be a worse NFL QB than Matt Schaub right now.

 

While I agree with some of the negativity everyone is heaping on Russell, just wanted to throw out a few things to play Devil's Advocate:

1. He held out during his rookie season and only had limited playing time.
2. His 2nd year was under Lane Kiffin and the entire organization was a joke. Still, he led the Raiders to wins in their final three games and had 6 TDs with only 2 INTs over this span.
3. His uncle (who he was very close with) passed away in the following offseason. The new Raiders coach (Tom Cable) was possibly even worse than Kiffin and had the incident with one of his assistant coaches. Russell really only started a couple of games in his 3rd year and hasn't played since.
4. He's still fairly young and has possibly the strongest arm in the NFL.

IMO, I think it's possible he's matured enough to give the NFL his full focus now. However, I don't think he's intelligent enough to run an NFL offense, go through progressions, get the most out of mid-week film study, etc.

 

Does Tennessee need offensive or defensive linemen or something?

 

These are all fair points. I actually think he would have had a better chance to succeed had he gone to any other team besides the Raiders. Not saying he would have succeeded, but he would have had a better chance. In addition to his lack of intelligence, his work ethic would be another serious consideration of any team giving him a look.

 

The transformation that dude made between January and May of last year was remarkable. He seemingly had it together, but suffered a pretty bad knee injury. If not for that he would have been in a camp. hope he can recover and get a shot next year.