Espn article on jamarcus russell

The teaser is "A New Leaf?" on the ESPN.com's front page. Clever.

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Most teams had Russell slotted somewhere in the third or fourth round,

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This is crap. If true, then it is because those teams had no interests in a QB that year.

Every sports goob and magazine I remember had him as the 5th or 6th best player in the draft that year at the lowest.

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Some scouts, meanwhile, noted that Russell's short drops in the pocket sometimes led to wildly inaccurate throws and that he had difficulty anticipating when -- and where -- his receivers would come out of their breaks. He was especially poor at throwing across his body to the sideline, a pass critical to success in the NFL.

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Dilfer believes quarterback is one of the most grossly misevaluated positions in all of sports because teams get enamored of what he calls the "loud component" of the formula.

"Arm strength and physical stature," Dilfer said. "Many teams have no idea how to evaluate the intuitive abilities -- how to manipulate the clock, changing arm angle to be accurate, how to feel the pass rush. There is so much more to playing quarterback than throwing the ball."

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Poor discipline and poor preparation habits invariably lead to poor mechanics. In the NFL, where the openings in coverage are so much narrower than in college, precise mechanics are critical.

"Way too often," Williamson said, "he trusts his arm alone. Even when he has a clean pocket, he throws off his back foot -- that's inexcusable. That's why he'll just flat-out miss open people."

Russell's "stroke," according to Dilfer, isn't right. "It's the hips moving, the arm and shoulder placement," Dilfer said. "The No. 1 thing is efficiency and suddenness, not quickness, when the brain tells the body to move. He has neither. It's inefficient and slow and methodical. There is very little chance for success. "His football intelligence -- the ability to process information, trust your instincts and make lightning-quick decisions -- is lacking."

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