JaMarcus Russell arrested in Alabama drug bust

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by 12thMan

Like seriously, I wondered what happened to him. Like one year this guy is playing for the national championship and the next year his busto. Just doesn't add up...I mean mentally, it doesn't make sense to me.

The Kiffin firing really hurt him. Kiffin didn't think Russell was much good (and he was probably right), but at the very least, he had him on the Alex Smith development track. Meaning, that by the time he's 25 or 26 he's ready to take over an NFL offense when, clearly, the guy is too unrefined coming out of college to be a serious prospect.

(Matt Leinart was on the path too, although I really don't think he was unrefined coming from USC. He just might not be that good).

But yeah, with Kiffin out, Cable certainly wasn't interested in trying to develop a bad player. And so he tried to win in spite of his quarterback. Thus: the 2009 season. So that really hurt him.