NFL Draft: 30 worst first-round picks of the 21st century
By Randy Gurzi
And here we have the No. 1 spot in our worst draft picks of the century. Coming in at this undesirable spot is none other than former LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell.
While many were all aboard the Brady Quinn train — he also happened to be quite the bust — Oakland put their eggs in the JaMarcus Russell basket.
Russell was supposed to be their new savior at the position, but all he became known for was bad passes and ‘purple drank.’ He ended up playing only three seasons for the Raiders before they decided it was best to move on from him.
During his time with the team, they won just seven games while losing 18. He completed only 52.1 percent of his passes with his final season being the worst of his career. That was in 2009 when Russell went 2-7 as a starter, while also completing only 48.8 percent of his passes. He also had an abysmal touchdown-to-interception ratio of 3-to-11.
He had workouts the next couple of seasons with teams like the Washington Redskins and Miami Dolphins, but never made it on either of their rosters. Russell twice tried to make a comeback after that. Once in 2013, he worked out for teams and despite some interest, he was never offered a deal.
Then, in 2016 he tried to get a team to sign him and even said he would play for free. That wasn’t enough to get him a shot with anyone.