JaMarcus Russell Benched; Bruce Gradkowski Named Raiders Starter

Wednesday night, we linked to speculation from SBN’s Raiders blog suggesting that Al Davis was behind the move to bench Russell in favor of Gradkowski. But according to coach Tom Cable, the decision was his … although he did need proper approval from Davis, of course.

From Oakland Tribune’s Monte Poole

Cable has seen enough football to know Bruce Gradkowski can’t and won’t salvage this season, much less secure Cable’s job or alter the Raiders’ future at quarterback.

Surely the coach had a clear understanding of this when he approached team owner Al Davis seeking authorization to start Gradkowski ahead of JaMarcus Russell this Sunday against Cincinnati.

Davis approved the move, and Cable announced Wednesday that Gradkowski will start against the Bengals.

“(Davis) left this up to me; this is my decision,” Cable said after practice. “We talked about it, and he supported it.” with it."

Poole goes on to claim that this is just a temporary move in order to get Russell’s attention. Whether it succeeds in doing so doesn’t really matter at this point — this was their last resort.

If you don’t think Al Davis has a hand — a big hand — in who quarterbacks the Oakland Raiders, then you’re obviously not a Raiders fan:

If Gradkowski is starting, you know Cable wouldn’t be doing it unless ... Davis might be wanting him to? If Al didn’t want Grad starting, you bet that he’d make sure it didn’t happen. Could Al finally be seeing that Russell isn’t the future of this team? It’s clear from the post-game interview with Gradkowski that he already is a better leader and is definitely a better QB.

Gradkowski is 3-9 as a starter in his career, but at this point the Raiders will take their chances.