Well it looks like the quarterback competition in Oakland is finally winding down. Although at this point this battle should have very little fantasy implications, the winner might be a name to consider during the year when you run into injury problems or the bye week blues. McCown has proven himself to be a completely mediocre quarterback, averaging only 155 yards a game and throwing only 25 touchdowns in 35 games, while also throwing 29 interceptions. I wouldn't expect much different from him if he takes over as quarterback for the Raiders this season. However, Daunte Culpepper brings a lot more intrigue to the conversation.

We're only three years removed from Culpepper's unbelievable 39 TD, 4700+ passing yards (with only 11 interceptions) season, where he nearly won the MVP award. A serious injury to his knee derailed his following two seasons, so it's hard to say if Culpepper forgot how to play football, or if he was simply in too much pain to play. IF Culpepper can regain form this year, and his receivers can step up (Jerry Porter is a complete mystery this year), you might be looking at a huge fantasy dark-horse.

On a related note, after suffering through a pathetic season with the anemic Andrew Walter behind center, the Raiders were scrambling to bring in a quarterback to help kick start a franchise has been in complete collapse since its Superbowl season in 2002. With the first overall pick in the 2007 NFL draft they take JaMarcus Russell, the kid with the gun for an arm from LSU. At this point, Russell is one of the last unsigned free agents from the draft and is probably blowing what could have been an awesome opportunity for him. If Culpepper becomes a good quarterback again in Oakland, Russell will most likely be riding the bench for a few years, as opposed to taking over the franchise for years to come if he had signed earlier and made it to training camp on time.

It always blows my mind that these guys out of college think they've already "earned" a big NFL paycheck without ever starting a game. If it were up to me (and I'm sure the NFL teams would also love it), these rookies would get base salaries laced with loads of performance bonuses. That way the player has to prove that he is as good as he thinks he is, and he will be compensated based on his performance. However, I guess the Drew Rosenhauses of the world already screwed up that for us.