Gannon: Gradkowski What Raiders Need

The greatest week of Bruce Gradkowski's NFL career got even better Wednesday when the Oakland Raiders' starting quarterback -- yes, he's the starter now, not JaMarcus Russell -- learned he was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week.

For the Raiders (4-8), this is monumental; the last Oakland player to receive offensive player of the week honors was quarterback Daunte Culpepper, who won the award in Week 4 of 2007 for a two-touchdown performance against the Dolphins.

Gradkowski now has upset victories in two of his three starts this season, and this isn't going unnoticed.

Rich Gannon, the former NFL Most Valuable Player and the last great Raiders quarterback, watched in awe as Gradkowski threw a career-high three touchdown passes Sunday -- all in the fourth quarter -- leading the Raiders to a 27-24 upset victory over the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field.

"It was refreshing to see. I sent a text to one of the Raiders' equipment guys right after the game to pass along my congratulations, because I didn't have Bruce's number," said Gannon, whose brutally honest critiques of the Raiders this season in his role as a CBS analyst angered the franchise so much, it tried to ban him from broadcasting its games.

Since the Raiders' organization underwent an epiphany in mid-November and determined that Russell, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 draft, was not getting the job done with his 46.8-percent completion percentage, nine interceptions, five lost fumbles and 47.7 passer rating, Gradkowski has emerged as everything Russell is not.

Most important: he is a leader.

Six touchdowns, one interception in three starts, victories over AFC North-leading Cincinnati and Pittsburgh and a firm command of the offense and his teammates -- all superlatives. And all uncommon for a Raiders' organization that needs two victories down the stretch to avoid notching seven consecutive seasons with at least 11 losses.

Against the Steelers, Gradkowski completed 20 of 33 passes for a career-high 308 yards, including the game-winning 11-yard TD to rookie receiver Louis Murphy with nine seconds remaining. He's the first Raiders quarterback since Ken Stabler (vs. New Orleans on Dec. 3, 1979) to throw three fourth-quarter touchdown passes.

Gannon finally got Gradkowski on the phone, and he found himself engrossed in conversation and impressed by this rags-to-riches quarterback, a Pittsburgh native and former sixth-round pick by Tampa Bay in 2006 out of Toledo whose career path has taken cruel twists.

Gradkowski started six games as a rookie for then-Bucs coach Jon Gruden, lost his job to Jeff Garcia, then bounced around the Rams and Browns before being claimed off waivers by Oakland in February.

"This means a lot to him," Gannon said of Gradkowski's huge performance at Pittsburgh. "I know how important it is to him. I know how hard he's worked at it. I could just see it in his demeanor as I watched him play. You watched his facial expressions, the way he talked to the players in the sideline and the huddle -- this kid just realizes that this is an opportunity of a lifetime and he's going to make the most of it."

Said Ben Roethlisberger, another MAC alumnus (Miami of Ohio): "He's a good player. He has a good heart."

Within the Raiders, hope remains that Russell, now playing the role of multi-million dollar clipboard carrier, will glean something from Gradkowski's fiery demeanor and work ethic, much like resurgent Titans' starter Vince Young did during his time as Kerry Collins' understudy in Tennessee.

Then again, with his $31 million in guaranteed money, his lackadaisical attitude toward winning and losing and his steady decline in performance during what should have been a breakthrough third season, there may be little hope for Russell other than the continued confidence of owner Al Davis -- the ultimate authority -- has in him.

"He has no passion for the game. Everyone can see that," said one AFC general manager. "I don't think he's getting anything at all out of seeing Gradkowski succeed, other than nobody is booing him."

So what do the Raiders do here? Gradkowski, who has been a daily fixture at the Raiders' facility training and studying ever since signing with the team, is under contract through 2009. He's always been a gym rat and a student of the game, learning everything he could from his days with Gruden and his time in Oakland with Paul Hackett.

Clearly, Gradkowski knows the offense. He has chemistry with the Raiders' young receivers -- Murphy caught four passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns against Pittsburgh, and Gradkowski got Darrius Heyward-Bey his first NFL touchdown in a loss to the Cowboys.

Gradkowski gets players to follow him, to believe in him.

"He offers hope, particularly for a team that is starving for leadership and direction," Gannon said, "and that's what jumps out at me when I look at Bruce Gradkowski and what he's done the last three or four weeks."

Is Gradkowski an answer -- short- or long-term -- to the Raiders' six-season quarterback drought? The team hasn't had a consistent winning starting quarterback since Gannon's NFL career ended in 2004 with a neck injury.

Perhaps re-signing Gradkowski and staying the course with him as the starter, keeping Russell occupied in the classroom and in the weight room, and then finding a value quarterback in the mid- to late rounds of the 2010 NFL Draft could give the once-vaunted Silver and Black some badly needed consistency at the team's most important position. And that, in turn, may return some of the luster to a now-tarnished brand.

"The next four weeks are going to be critical not only for him and the evaluation of him but also the entire team," Gannon said. "But I think it's certainly a start. Then again, to think that one guy can come in there and make a boatload of difference, I don't know if I agree with that.

"If he can play real well the next three or four weeks, play with consistency, be efficient, that's a great place to start. But they need to find more players like Bruce Gradkowski, players who will do whatever it takes to win. I think you see players around him on both sides of the ball playing better because they truly believe they have a chance. When you have players who have that type of impact, in the locker room and in the huddle, then that's a good place to start."

And what about Russell? He's been exposed to three head coaches, multiple coordinators, position coaches and philosophies, and has experienced nothing but dysfunction and failure since becoming a Raider in 2006. Russell hasn't had a dependable supporting cast or a stable mentor since arriving in the NFL.

Gannon concedes all of this.

"I'm not going to go overboard and defend him. He's created a lot of this mess himself," Gannon said of Russell's career crossroads, which appears to be directed toward a dead end. "But I think when you evaluate the guy's body of work, a lot of what happens at the quarterback position is impacted by what goes on around him as well.

"Then again, when you look at Bruce's success, there hasn't been a ton of change, you know, and yet this guy is getting the results."

What would Gannon do with Russell if he were his coach this offseason?

"Two things really jump out at me: First and foremost, if I was working with him, I'd start this right now and then carry it into the offseason program -- [Russell] really has to rededicate himself physically," Gannon said. "He needs to come back 30 pounds lighter on his frame. I think that could really help him, make him a more explosive player, make him quicker in his drops. It would make him so much faster.

"Another thing I would do is encourage him to run more. He's a great runner when he pulls the ball down and that's something he's hesitant to do. So I would start with the re-focus and the re-dedication, taking care of himself physically.

"Another area I'd stress is to go back into the meeting room with him and just start from scratch. You've got to re-train and re-educate him on playing the position and understanding the system, and really becoming the master of his domain."

Gradkowski, who is all of 6-foot-1, may be the journeyman and Russell, the 6-foot-6 physical freak who can throw a football 60 yards from his knees, may be the former No. 1 overall pick.

But Gradkowski is now a conference player of the week. Russell is being compared to Ryan Leaf and Todd Marinovich. Maybe it is about attitude and work ethic. Pride and Poise, as the Raiders like to say it.

"When I'm out there, when I'm in practice -- it's my offense," Gradkowski said. "And that's how I'm gonna lead because the quarterback of the offense, you gotta be the leader. Guys need a leader out there, and offensively I'm gonna be the leader until coach says otherwise."

Said running back Justin Fargas, "He's a fired-up guy. He plays off emotion but [he's] also a smart player, studies his stuff, knows the game and is a competitor. And that competitive nature comes out verbally, physically. I think we're finding ourselves [under Gradkowski]."

Sometimes, the formula for success, for both sixth-round draft picks and No. 1 overall selections, is just that simple.

"With JaMarcus, a lot has to happen. He has to win over the respect of his teammates and coaches and peers again," Gannon said. "You hope that a guy in this situation, much like what's happened with Vince Young, get the chance to sit back and watch and observe. Watch how the other guy prepares, studies and responds to adversity, how he interacts with players in the huddle and coaches on the sideline."

Gannon learned his craft at the feet of Vikings stars Tommy Kramer and Wade Wilson during his time in Minnesota.

"It was little things that I took with me, just by observing them," he said. "I really hope JaMarcus is doing that now."