JaMarcus Russell was released today. For Raiders fans, this is a great day. The only feeling better for a fan of a team than the day your first overall pick bust finally gets cut is actually having your first overall pick pan out. However, for me, this is a sad day. Who am I going to make fun of now? JaMarcus Russell was the worst quarterback in the NFL last year. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a worse quarterback keep his starting job for longer. I guess the straw that broke the horse’s back was when he showed up weighing 290 pounds (even higher according to some reports) to offseason workouts. I would have thought it would have been when he was eating skittles on the sideline after getting benched, but that’s just me. Plus, he looks like Fat Albert, which is automatically hillarious.

Hey hey hey 

However, like from all things, I have to move on. JaMarcus Russell was great fun to laugh at, but he is not in the NFL anymore. Of course it would help if someone just as awful came along. Hopefully there will be some awful quarterback next year to follow. Let’s look at the candidates.

Trent Edwards- Buffalo Bills

This is assuming he doesn’t get beaten out by Brian Brohm, Ryan Fiztpatrick, or Levi Brown in training camp, in which case any of those 3 quarterback would be potential candidates. Edwards is not an awful quarterback and I think he could be a solid quarterback behind a good offensive line, but the Bills have far from one. In 7 starts last year, Edwards took 23 sacks, part of the reason for why he only started 7 games. He’s a solid accurate quarterback with a 61% completion percentage for his career, but struggles to complete long passes or lead long drives. He had a yard per attempt average last year of 6.4, despite a 60% completion percentage and only threw for 6 touchdowns in 7 starts. In games he started, the Bills scored an average of 13.4 points per game, 10.1 if you don’t count a game against the lowly Bucs. Consquently, the Bills went 1-6 in those games, beating only the Bucs.

Alex Smith

Sure he did fine last year, but that’s largely because he ran a spread offense. If he struggles to grasp the under center offense the Niners will use this year, he could be pretty bad. Remember, in his first 3 years in an under center offense, he was a Russell esque 435 for 800 for 4779 yards, 19 picks and 31 interceptions. It’s not likely, but he could regress and struggle again in that style of offense.

Vince Young

Remember, before last year, he was 444 for 775 for 4964 yards, 22 touchdowns and 32 picks. It’s pretty unlikely, but he could regress.

Matt Stafford

Stafford threw 20 picks last year. This should not be an issue as he was a rookie and even Peyton Manning threw 20+ picks as a rookie, but you never know. He might never rebound. It’s certainly happened before.

Mark Sanchez

Bascially the same as above, but he did show some promise in the playoffs last year and has an amazing supporting cast. I say unlikely, but as a Pats fan I certainly wouldn’t mind.

Josh Freeman

Basically the same deal as Stafford.

Jake Delhomme

Delhomme only has had one bad year in his career, but if he repeats what he did last year, 178 for 321 for 2015 yards, 8 touchdowns and 18 picks, he’ll definitely be pretty close to Russell esque. Also, the fact that he was banished to the Browns is not a sign that his career is going in the right direction.

Byron Leftwich

I actually think Leftwich could do a solid job in Pittsburgh as Big Ben’s replacement for 6 games. He was pretty solid for them in 2008 as a backup in limited action. However, what he has done everywhere else could be cause for concern and cause for possible laughs as he starts 6 games for the Steelers, unless he gets beaten out by Dennis Dixon in camp.

Curtis Painter

Probably will never start for an extended period of time, but maybe Peyton Manning will tear an ACL or something. You never know. Russell may be the worst quarterback I’ve ever seen play a long period of time, but Painter is the worst quarterback I’ve ever seen play for a short period of time. He couldn’t win one game in two tries with a supporting cast that Peyton Manning went 14-0 with, something especially pathetic considering one game he was given a lead to start and another game was against the Bills, who ended up blowing them out. Painter’s 2009 stats: 8 for 28 for 83 yards 0 touchdowns and 2 picks. That’s a solid 9.8 QB rating.

Matt Leinart

Leinart certainly has the supporting cast to be good, not to mention a lot of success in college, but he hasn’t done well in the past and he had all of those things then too. Maybe two years on the bench behind Kurt Warner have matured him, because that seemed to be his biggest issue last time he started, but last time he played, it wasn’t pretty. In his career he is 340 for 595 for 3983 yards, 14 touchdowns, and 20 picks. Even last year, in the few games he played as a backup, he threw 3 picks to 0 touchdowns and had a YPA of 5.6

Charlie Whitehurst

I want to give Pete Carroll the benefit of the doubt here. He really seems to like this kid. He traded the equivilant of 2 3^rd rounders for him. However, he’s a 28 year old former 3^rd round pick who has never thrown a pass in the NFL, so I have my doubts. It might be too much to hope that he’ll be completely awful and I can laugh at him, but hey, I can dream.

Jason Campbell

Why not? I happen to think Campbell will do awesome in Oakland (assuming we’re grading on a curve). He hasn’t been anywhere near as bad as people think he is and the Raiders’ scheme fits his arm well. However, maybe the Raiders’ will suck the life right out of him. Maybe they’ll let him do whatever he wants and he’ll gain 50 pounds. Plus, the Raiders are probably the only team on this list that would start an awful quarterback for long enough for it to be true comedy.

Jay Cutler

The NFL leader in interceptions last year with 27, which is automatically hillarious. He has an awesome arm and should only get better with time as he becomes more familiar with the Bears’ offense, but you never know. That 5 interception performance against the Niners last year was one of the funniest non-Russell moments of the year.