Jason Campbell proclaimed himself the starting quarterback in Oakland shortly after the Redskins traded him to the Raiders. But his coach says it’s not quite so clear cut.
Raiders head coach Tom Cable says that when he, owner Al Davis and Campbell had a conference call, the subject of who would start never even came up. And Cable says there will be a competition among Campbell, JaMarcus Russell, Bruce Gradkowski, Charlie Frye and Kyle Boller.
“What it comes down to is that we’ve got five quarterbacks now and we’re going to have a great competition,” Cable said. “There will be some decisions to be made here in the next month or so.”
Many league observers believe one of those decisions in the next month or so will be the release of Russell. But Cable says it’s still possible that Russell could not only stay on the team but earn the starting job.
“Sure there is,” Cable answered when asked if there’s a chance Russell will start for the Raiders in 2010, “if he competes for the job and he’s doing all those things that your starting quarterback is supposed to do. If he’s the best guy, then, yeah.”
With the Raiders, anything is possible. But the smart money is on Campbell starting, Russell getting cut, and Gradkowski, Frye and Boller competing for the other two quarterback jobs.