Future Take

I like to follow my bitch sessions with something positive. Well, there's something positive on the Raiders bench. It's rookie QB Andrew Walter. When the Patriots diced up Kerry Collins last Thursday, many in the Raider Nation were calling for his head. Their proposed replacement? Not Tui, but the rookie.

Walter goes against the recent Raider grain. When is the last time the Raiders had a true QB prospect in the wings (besides that Marinovich dude, whose over-achieving father drove him to smoking weed and riding skateboards)? The Raider way is free-agent veteran QBs: Collins, Gannon, George, Hostetler, Beuerlein, Plunkett, etc. But this trend of old QBs might be getting a bit...old. There are more Georges and Collins than Plunketts and Gannons out there.

So who is Andrew Walter? The Raiders stole him in the third round of the 2005 draft, long after several other QBs had been selected. He stands a rock solid 6'6" and has a cannon for an arm. At Arizona State he shattered the Pac 10 career record for touchdowns set by John Elway in 1977. He had a season-ending shoulder injury in 2004, which is why he lasted until the third round of the draft. But he has made a full recovery, and Al Davis made a brilliant move in picking him up.

Walter looked strong and poised during limited work in the preseason, which means he didn't look like a rookie (unlike, say, 49ers' first-rounder Alex Smith). But the jury is still out. I wouldn't start him yet. Let's not kick Collins to the curb based on one game. However, it's reassuring to know that the Raiders may already possess their future at the QB position.