TallySaint

Raiders QB picture still up in the air

It's not too early for trio to start jockeying for position
By Bill Soliday 5-6-06



ALAMEDA — Given his budding relationship with Paris Hilton, you tend to fear for Matt Leinart as much as you fear him.

And yet, given the draft-day circumstances the Oakland Raiders were in a week ago, you'd think fear would have been on the minds of team quarterbacks Aaron Brooks, Marques Tuiasosopo and Andrew Walter.

As it turns out, that couldn't have been much further from how it actually was. While the world waited for the Raiders to jump on the USC quarterback with the seventh pick of the draft:

- Brooks was in Arizona playing golf and stifling a yawn.

- Walter was at Lake Tahoe with his girlfriend having dinner.

- Tuiasosopo was merely curious, then relieved.

"I said, 'OK, well, I guess I don't have to worry about anything else except for what I need to do,'" said Tuiasosopo, who would have promptly been an ex-Raider if Oakland had selected Leinart instead of Texas safety Michael Huff with that pick."

And so ...

"We have a pretty good defensive player," he finally decided, letting out a laugh.

In the end, Oakland decided it didn't need more quarterbacks. Ho hum.

Brooks couldn't be bothered sneaking peeks at the draft. He was too busy shooting a 94 on the TPC of Scottsdale golf course to worry about some hotshot rookie usurping his status as a Raider, whatever that may be.

"I could care less," Brooks said. "It's not my decision to make ... or for me to worry about. I felt more comfortable that they didn't, but even with them drafting a first-round quarterback, I don't think it would have been set in stone ... him having the job."

Walter, taken by Oakland in the third round a year ago, went for parental wisdom when the "L" word came up.

"My dad said it best," he said. "I don't know (where it came from), but he said the Raiders organization had me rated the top quarterback on their board (last year), and if that's true, then if I was healthy, why would they draft a quarterback this year?

"I was watching, but I wasn't stressing out too much. But you still never know until you know. So after the pick came and went, there was affirmation. Time to get to business."

Ah yes, the business of deciding just who is going to be the Oakland starting quarterback in 2006 — Brooks, Walter or Tuiasosopo? Nobody seems to be in a hurry to say.

Or to proclaim victory.

"I come in thinking I'm going to have to compete anyway," Brooks said. "Nothing is given."

For the record, at Friday's Day 1 of minicamp, when the first unit took the field, Brooks was behind center Jake Grove. Tuiasosopo was second up, followed by Walter.

Coach Art Shell hasn't hauled out his chisel or looked for the stone to register the proclamation.

"That's where we are today," Shell said. "The last camp it was different. It might be different next time."

One thing Shell did admit to was he would like to go into training camp in July with a pretty solid idea of his pecking order.

"I think it will take care of itself," he said.

Ask Walter who the favorite is and he shrugs.

"I don't know," he said. "I guess time will tell. Personally, I'd love to get a shot, but the bottom line is camp will be key."

Tuiasosopo agreed whoever plays best will start, and because this is the final year of his contract, his time to swoop in is now.

"From everything I've heard, coach has said it'll be open competition," he said. "That's all I need."

Tuiasosopo got a boost not only when the Raiders passed on Leinart but also when the team did not trade him to Cleveland, a recent rumor.

"There were definitely some things going on," Tuiasosopo said. "But I'm here, and that's what matters. They still wanted me here for another year. That makes me happy.

"I'm ready to do this. No question, this is kind of a telltale year. Either I'll be here, hopefully for a long time, or I'll probably be somewhere else.

"To me, it's a win-win (situation). It feels so good. The last couple of years, whatever they said, I just knew Kerry (Collins) was going to be the guy. That's fine, but I feel good I've got a chance to compete. I'm fired up."

He has the fire. Brooks says he has energy and some fire himself since, as he puts it, "the league and the media have been trying to wash me away for years." Walter, recovered from a rookie groin injury, has his health and a disarming aura of calm.

Stay tuned.


8)

My Guardian Angel wears a hard hat.