Oakland Raiders HC Del Rio Makes A Curious Addition To Coaching Staff

Well, that was certainly unexpected. To say the least.

Oakland Raiders HC Jack Del Rio — known for his steady, staid, perhaps even traditional way of thinking and of being — crossed us all over harder than Stephen Curry crossed over Chris Paul on Tuesday night. If your ankles are still feeling a little tender today, it’s perfectly understandable.

We know and really like what JaMarcus brings to the table from a physical, mental, and work ethic standpoint.

In a move that literally nobody saw coming, Del Rio, with GM Reggie McKenzie‘s blessing, announced late Tuesday night that he was adding another quarterbacks coach to his staff for the 2015 season.

Are you ready for this? No, you’ll never be ready for this.

With unreasonably good cheer, Del Rio made the announcement that former Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell would be joining his staff as a special assistant to QB Coach Todd Downing.

Yes, that JaMarcus Russell.

If you need to pick yourself up off the floor, get a glass of water, and collect yourself, we understand. Take all the time you need.

In an interview with Arnold Jape of the Alameda County Post, Del Rio said:

"“We know and really like what JaMarcus brings to the table from a physical, mental, and work ethic standpoint. We just think that with a young quarterback like Derek in the fold, somebody who we think can be a really great one, JaMarcus can offer him some solid guidance and excellent mentoring.”"

As the first overall pick in the 2007 draft, Russell was supposed to be the quarterback who led the Raiders back to prominence. With outstanding size (6’6″, 265 lbs), terrific mobility, and a cannon for an arm, the late Al Davis — despite the reported warnings from former Lions’ GM Matt Millen — thought Russell was the real deal and didn’t hesitate to draft the LSU product.

To put it incredibly kindly, in his three tumultuous seasons in Oakland, Russell never came close to being the quarterback that Davis had envisioned when he drafted him. The reality is that Russell, over his 31 games in the league — including 25 starts — became arguably, the biggest draft bust in NFL history.

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For his brief career, Russell compiled a 7-18 record as a starter, completing 354 of 680 pass attempts (52.1 percent), for 4,083 yards. He tossed 18 touchdowns against 23 interceptions, and added another 25 lost fumbles for good measure. Russell posted a career QB rating of 65.2.

Yeah, he was a bad quarterback. And it was a reality that cost Oakland far more than the more than $30 million dollars they paid him to be such a terrible QB.

But now he’s back. And he’s going to be mentoring Derek Carr, who Del Rio, McKenzie, and Mark Davis all feel is the franchise quarterback the club has been lacking for so long.

McKenzie also spoke with Jape of the Alameda County Post and said,

"“We’re well aware of JaMarcus’ history within the organization, and the outside perception of him. But to be quite honest, the people on the outside don’t see what we see. They don’t know JaMarcus like we know him. We’re quite confident that he can help take Derek to the next level and teach him to be an elite NFL quarterback.”"

Russell’s brief tenure with the Raiders was marked by allegations of an incredibly poor work ethic, a sense of entitlement, questions about his physical conditioning, his decision making on the field, and his clear lack of leadership.

Most Raider fans will undoubtedly argue that they don’t need to know JaMarcus like McKenzie and Del Rio know him to know that he was a terrible NFL quarterback and that he’s far more likely to stunt the growth of Carr than he is to help him rise to another level.