Online gambling odds on the Oakland Raiders might actually improve now that the team has gotten rid of former number one pick JaMarcus Russell. The Raiders cut Russell on Thursday and although the odds at the Internet gambling companies didn’t immediately improve on the Raiders, the team should be improved.
Online gambling odds list the Raiders as one of the longest shots to win the Super Bowl. With Russell at the helm the team had no chance. They may not have much of a chance with Jason Campbell at quarterback but at least the Raiders can now be competitive. They had no chance of winning very many games with Russell at quarterback.
The Raiders took Russell first overall in 2007 even though Lane Kiffin, who was head coach at the time, did not want Russell. Owner Al Davis was stubborn and took Russell anyway and it was one of many poor decisions the Oakland owner has made in recent years. Russell was one of the worst draft decisions of all-time. The Raiders will have paid Russell more than $39 million dollars. Online gambling statistics indicated that they got a total of seven wins with Russell as their starting quarterback.
Oakland owner Al Davis finally had to cut ties with Russell. The decision should have been made long ago but Davis never likes to admit he made a mistake. Last season, Davis finally let head coach Tom Cable bench Russell and the team responded. Bruce Gradkowski led the team to some wins and there was a little bit of hope that the Raiders could cover the online gambling odds. The team didn’t think enough of Gradkowski though and Davis went and got Jason Campbell from Washington. The Raiders are already paying Campbell more money as well as they extended his contract through 2011.
It will be hard for Campbell to do worse than Russell. In 25 starts, Russell won only seven games. He completed only 52.1 percent of his passes in his career with 18 touchdowns, 23 interceptions and 15 lost fumbles. Last online gambling season he was awful, completing only 48.8 percent of his passes, with three touchdowns, 11 interceptions and a 50 passer rating. Many people at Internet gambling companies believe that Ryan Leaf was the biggest NFL draft bust of all-time but Russell probably takes over that dubious distinction now simply because the Raiders threw a lot more money away on him than San Diego did on Leaf.