OAKLAND - Unable to invest with Bernie Madoff, management of the Oakland Raiders instead put money into JaMarcus Russell of Louisiana State University, apparently with the same results.

Russell, large in body and potential, and given unqualified support by people who are supposed to know what they are watching, was selected No. 1 overall in the 2007 draft.

Believing he indeed was as special as the critics had suggested, Russell held out until the regular season began, at which time he was given a contract worth $68 million, $31 million which is guaranteed

Considered as part of the entire American financial mess, with losses for such non-NFL franchises as Lehman Brothers or Bank of America into the billions, if not trillions, the figures for Russell are relatively small.

His failings so far are not.

The draft we have been warned is an imperfect science, otherwise why would Ryan Leaf go as high as No. 2? Sometimes those in the position to make the selections are misled by optimism.

Everything seemed a good fit when the Raiders, as the result of yet another awful season, earned the first pick in the '07 draft. Oakland was desperate for a quarterback, and there stood Russell, 6-foot-6, 260-pounds, with a reputation as a winner.

But here in the middle of his second-full season, JaMarcus has been benched, replaced by Bruce Gradkowski, who kindly might be described as a journeyman.

Gradkowski was drafted a year earlier, 2006, and 180-something places lower, going in the sixth round to Tampa Bay, where he spent only two seasons before heading to St. Louis for a few hours, Cleveland and now Oakland, a total of four teams in eight months.

As a starter Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, Gradkowski directed the Raiders to a last-minute victory, just Oakland's third in 10 games. It was only the second time all season and the first time in eight games the Raiders had more than one touchdown.

Russell watched from the sideline, which one might surmise from the way he was booed when on the field, is the perfect place according to the rapidly shrinking group which calls itself "Raider Nation.'' Attendance for the game against Cincinnati was 34,112 lowest in more than 40 years at Oakland.

To call JaMarcus Russell a bust might be premature, if only slightly. An athlete must never be blamed for not living up to expectations if he does his best to succeed. Therein lies the problem with Russell.

His work habits are less than exemplary. He has come to camp overweight and clueless. After Gradkowski's performance, more than one teammate celebrated the achievement with words that could have been interpreted as a knock against Russell.

"He's just what a quarterback should be,'' offensive tackle Robert Gallery said of Gradkowski. Meaning what, JaMarcus Russell is just what a quarterback shouldn't be?

Russell met the requirements of long-time Raiders owner Al Davis who in 2009 still wants to play the game as it was in 1979, sending receivers deep and having them catch passes of 40 and 50 yards.

Those passes can be thrown by Russell. But today's football requires agility, finesse, timing and accuracy. When Raiders coach Tom Cable yanked JaMarcus in the second half of the Kansas City game, a week and a half ago, he explained, "He was all over the place with the balls.''

Tom Martinez, a quarterback coach who worked with Russell, in college, Tom Brady and John Elway, told the New York Times just before that 2007 draft, "JaMarcus throws the ball better than anyone I've ever seen.''

What the Raiders have seen is a quarterback with a tendency to throw too hard and too high, a quarterback who while able to escape some tacklers too often gets sacked and loses the ball.

He had completed only 47 percent of his passes, lost five fumbles and compiled the second worst passer rating in the league.

Young quarterbacks need time to grow, to feel comfortable. As a rookie, John Elway lined up behind the guard not the center. In this his first season, the Jets' Mark Sanchez has been painfully erratic.
But this is Russell's third year, and he's regressing. The Raiders aren't going to any playoffs, so it would seem logical they would use Russell, allowing him to gain experience and confidence. That's not the case. In effect, Cable said, "Enough already.''

What he did say specifically was, "This in no way is giving up on the guy.'' Well, what is it, then? As the Madoff investors learned, you pay your money and you suffer your fate.