It's the oh-so-risque choice that NFL coaches and general managers are faced with more than they would like.

You've got a high pick -- in this case the first overall selection -- and you need a franchise quarterback. The only problem is ... you've got more than one player to choose from. So, do you take the talented, semi-proven, quarterback with all the tools to be a pretty good starting quarterback in the NFL or do you take the not-so-proven kid with the unlimited potential?

That was the question the Indianapolis Colts had to answer in the 1998 draft when they had the top pick with Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf to choose from. I think you know how that one turned out, but just to throw in a little refresher, the Colts won the Super Bowl this past season with Manning. The last time I saw Leaf, he was paying a trip up to the announcer's booth during one of ESPN's bowl games late last year with a cowboy hat on his head and his playing days well behind him.

This year, the choice is the Oakland Raiders' to make. The Raiders haven't had a good quarterback since Rich Gannon got his bell rung ... and that's been a while now. So, with the draft on the horizon Oakland's sitting on the clock, in desperate need of a franchise quarterback, and with two players that appear fit that bill ripe for the picking. Those two players are Notre Dame's Brady Quinn and LSU's JaMarcus Russell.

Quinn -- according to many "draft experts" -- is the proven commodity, and a quick flip over to ESPN after a late night at the T&D confirmed as much for me. There was Charlie Weis -- Notre Dame's head coach and Tom Brady's former mentor -- telling anyone that would listen that Brady Quinn is the real deal. According to Weiss, he's the best thing since the Patriots nabbed Brady in the sixth round -- and if that wouldn't have happened, Weiss would probably be saying that he's the best thing since someone decided to take a knife and slice up loafed bread.

Russell... that kid's a freak. For starters, in case you didn't know Russell is one big dude. He stands at nearly 6-6 and he weighs 260 pounds, but there are a lot of big guys that can't do what Russell can do and that's sling the pigskin all over the field with ease. Word is, the kid can take a knee at the 50-yard line, and send a spiral through the uprights. He has a rifle arm, and the things he can do when he puts the ball in the air can make a scout have dirty dreams late at night.

My trusty Athlon Draft Guide uses adjectives such as "velocity" , "on a rope" and "guns" to describe Russell's passes. Then there is the little sentence in the Athlon about him being able to stand upright and throw a football 85 yards. Excuse my French, but that is friggin' amazing.

Supposedly, the knock on Russell is that he makes bad decisions. He throws off his back foot sometimes, he's a little doughy, and he just didn't play as much at LSU as Quinn did at Notre Dame. But, if you look past all of that you can see that Russell is a winner. He's been pretty good in the SEC -- actually, this past year he was pretty great -- and he is clutch. Eight times, Russell either brought his team from behind in the fourth quarter or led them to an overtime win.

There are two knocks on Quinn. Supposedly, his accuracy isn't the best in the world, and that seems like something a scout should legitimately be concerned with. Then there is the supposed knock -- what you see is what you get -- which is as outrageous as it sounds. Basically, that means, yes, Brady Quinn is a very good quarterback and he will very likely be a good pro, but Russell's ceiling is so high that he could be a once in a lifetime type of player. You don't want to be the General Manager who passed over the next Dan Marino for the next Steve Beurlein.

But, inevitably, in this day and age there are other factors as well. Reportedly, the Raiders are enamored with Russell, but let's be real, what do the Raiders really know? Last year, it looked like the answer to that question was not much. As quickly as Al Davis resurrected Art Shell he sent him packing for a 31-year old college assistant -- former Southern Cal offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin -- with no college or pro head coaching experience.

It seems Davis remains intent on throwing the ball down the field, and the team certainly has the receivers to do so in Randy Moss (if they can figure out how to get him to play hard), and Jerry Porter (if Kiffin will let him dress out). Because Davis wants his team to go deep, Russell also seems like a good fit. But, in 2007, "signability" is a dirty little word that you may hear more and more as draft day closes in. If money becomes a factor, and Quinn is willing to sign for less than Russell, he could be a Raider.

But, if I were the Raiders and I really had to pick a quarterback right now, I might just pull off a shocker. Ask Andrew Walter and Aaron Brooks how smart it would be to draft Quinn or Russell and stick them in the Raiders' outdated offensive scheme behind their feeble offensive line, and they'd probably just laugh. The answer to that, of course, is not very.

So, if you ask me it doesn't matter how polished you are or what Charlie Weis says, and it doesn't matter how big you are and how far you can throw it. Me, if I were running the Raiders, I'd just go ahead and trade the top pick and try to stock pile up a few extra selections.

Then, somewhere around the third or fourth round, I'd take Troy Smith. He will still be there because his combine was horrible, but he can run better than any quarterback in the draft, and that's probably going to be pretty important for whoever is taking snaps for the Raiders this year.

And, if Troy doesn't excel -- and his measurables say he probably won't -- we could just blame it all on the Heisman curse, and take solace in the fact that we stockpiled picks to make the team good enough to support a rookie "franchise quarterback" in the future.

T&D Sports Writer Brian Linder can be reached by e-mail at blinder@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5553. Discuss this and other stories online at TheT&D.com.

You must be logged in to comment.