OT: JaMarcus Russell

well his college play wasnt entirely horrific. i dont think anyone would have guessed he would be so awful. scouts and analysts will never be 100 percent correct, now matter how close Mel Kiper is to being Robert Goulet.

IIRC, he wasn't supposed to be the top QB in the draft.  But after the college season ended, he jumped with his "measurables" and his arm strength.  I think there were questions about his conditioning and QB-intelligence.  It exposes a huge weakness in the people who make decisions based heavily on the combine and individual workouts.  Essentially he worked his ass off to do well in, essentially, 2 major workouts and shot up the draft board.  Hindsight is 20/20, but I really don't ever remember thinking "This guy could be a hotshot in the NFL" based on his college game.

The man has all the measurables to be a great nfl qb, but like Dark Blue said, he just doesn't have the work ethic or devotion needed to reach his potential. Talent will only get you so far...

There are any number of things that could contribute to players not living up to their hype/potential.  The huge leap in quality of the competition and how players respond to the increase in personal responsibility are just the first two the popped into my head.

Scouts obviously consider these things, but it's just a matter of not being 100%.  I don't know much about Russell specifically, but scouts probably just over estimated how well they thought he'd transition.  Humans are complicated (and thus somewhat unpredictable) animals.

Now someone like Charles Rogers, on the other hand, should have had a massive red flag waving over his head since his high school days.

i think it's simple really. people get lost in the idea that great physical ability wins out. turns out that in the pros, especially at QB, you have to have it between the ears to go along with good physical talent.

I wonder if someone will try him at TE or H-back? He would have to lose a little weight, though.

How could so many teams, scouts and analysts have been so wrong?

Jamarcus is the Lebron of Football....without the desire and concentration. 

How hard will a player work in the weight room and studying film once they're given $40million.

Yet another reason why it's stupid to pay rookies more money than established veterans. I really, really hope they are able to pass a rookie wage scale.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't really trust schools/programs/coaches that haven't put out good quarterbacks in the past.  Therefore, I never really trusted LSU and Jamarcus Russell.  When's the last time LSU put out a good NFL quarterback?

I know it's a flawed theory, but I don't think there's a perfect theory out there.  I'd pick a quarterback coached by Pete Carroll or Lloyd Carr before picking a guy who had been coached by some Joe Schmoe with no pedigree.

It's all about incentives. In his mind he had done all those workouts in college for the big pay day on draft day. If you want to be great in the NFL you have to want to be great, not want to make a great deal of money.

In baseball is this known as having a million dollar arm and a ten cent head. Happens a lot sadly...

plain and simple

lane kiffen wanted calvin johnson but al davis said no. just couldn't resist a guy who threw 80 yards from his knees,

His stats were very good, but how many times did you hear the phrase "watch out for LSU because JaMarcus Russell will kill you."  In comparison to Ryan Leaf, Leaf looked way more impressive as a passer in college than Russell did.  Vince Young also looked way more impressive in college than Russell and wasn't 1st overall.