FanHouse

Credit to Javon Walker for not going with the lame generalizations the fans and media have grown so comfortable in making. When the Raiders used the first-overall pick of the 2007 draft to take quarterback JaMarcus Russell, he was immediately compared to Daunte Culpepper. Presumably because both are north of 250 pounds, and possess big arms, but also because, in case you missed it, they're black.

Me, I liked the Russell-Jared Lorenzen parallel, but that never caught on for some reason. Walker has his own thoughts:

As for playing with Russell, Walker compared it to his early years in Green Bay when the quarterback was Brett Favre.

"He has a good arm. I've been fortunate enough in my career to play with a quarterback who had a strong arm, and that's something I developed into, catching a fast ball," Walker said. "He's one of those guys that has that ball. The more and more we work together, the better that we're going to be."

And physically, they're virtually indistinguishable. I'm surprised no one picked up on that before now. Slight exaggeration, I'll grant you, especially since there were offseason "reports" that Russell looked more like Sam Adams than an NFL quarterback.

Fortunately, Russell showed up this week looking a svelte 269. He admits to needing to drop a few more lbs., and once he starts pimping Wrangler jeans the transformation will be complete.