I'll post it since it's premium content.
Campbell much better than his numbers show
By Jeremy Green
After watching Washington QB Jason Campbell over the past few weeks I wanted to go back into the film room and really break him down. What I saw after looking at tapes is that he is rapidly developing into one of the best young quarterbacks in the NFL.
That statement is tough to back up statistically because Campbell has just 198 completions in 357 attempts (55 percent completion percentage) in his career. He's thrown 15 TD passes, 10 interceptions and posted a QB rating of 78.5 in less than a year as a full-time starter. This season, he has thrown five touchdowns to four interceptions, which are not exactly numbers that make you say "wow." But consider he plays in a run-first offense and head coach Joe Gibbs would like to run the ball 35 or more times per game. That does not lend itself to gaudy numbers from the QB position.
However, what does make you say "wow" is how quickly he has picked up the Washington offense. Offensive coordinator Al Saunders has one of the most extensive playbooks in the NFL and Campbell is leaps and bounds ahead of where he was last season. I talked to an offensive coach in Washington who told me how Campbell was the first one in and the last one out of the building all offseason and it is starting to pay dividends on the field.
At 6-foot-5, 230 pounds, Campbell has excellent size for the position and while he looks like a big pocket passer, he has very good mobility and can make plays inside and outside the pocket. He is smooth in his movements and can throw on the move with very little wasted motion in his timing and release.
He has also developed a feel for pressure as well. In the Green Bay game on Sunday, there were numerous occasions where he had back side blitz pressure which he did not see it, but he felt and was able to step up and deliver a solid strike. Some young QBs do not have a feel for pressure and will step the wrong way, but not Campbell. Of all the pressures I saw on Campbell there was only one occasion where he stepped towards the pressure rather then up or away from it. That can be a hard aspect of the game for a young QB to learn.
Campbell also has an outstanding arm and can make all the throws in Saunders' offense. When I say all the throws, I mean that he can zip the out route, zip it into the deep curls, throw the comeback route with excellent accuracy and he even throws a beautiful deep ball. Those are all tough throws to make, but Campbell can make them all.
One area Campbell has really developed his game is his touch on passes. His touch and accuracy on the short to underneath routes is much better than it was last season. Statistically this is tough to see in the numbers, but he has been riddled with a ton of drops by his receivers. On Sunday, Campbell threw 16 incomplete passes, but six were drops by his receivers, another two that were questionable and one that went off his receiver's hands for an interception. On some of those throws, which were in the short to intermediate passing zones, Campbell did an excellent job of taking something off the ball or leading his receiver to allow him to make a play after the catch. He has learned to fit the ball between the LB and the safety, like he did in Week 6 on two throws to TE Chris ey. Plus, his deep ball accuracy is much better as seen by the throw he put right on the hands of WR Santana Moss that Moss dropped.
Campbell has always been a solid passer, but what was most impressive on tape was his development of understanding defenses. His field vision and awareness are leaps and bounds above where they were last season. Plus, he is much quicker with his progression, which helps the ball gets out of his hand on time.
Campbell does not get the accolades of some of the other young quarterbacks in the NFL because the numbers are not going to be there in a Gibbs-coached offense. However, when you break him down, he is every bit as solid as other QBs around the NFL with similar starting experience. Campbell is good enough to carry this team to the playoffs. Now he just needs the coaching staff to allow him to do it and a little help from the guys around him who need to start holding onto the football. Time will tell, but Campbell is quickly emerging into a solid starting QB in the NFL.
tribeofjudah wrote:Good read...... true fans already recognize a sparkling Diamond in JC.
Boy, imagine had we played the kid earlier rather than sticking with Brunell - oh well, if his receivers can catch the daggone ball we will be fine.
Who knows what would have happened. If you throw someone in too fast, QBs often sink. Think of Heath Shuler and Patrick Ramsey...ruined because they didn't have enough time to learn before they started.
tribeofjudah wrote:Good read...... true fans already recognize a sparkling Diamond in JC.
Boy, imagine had we played the kid earlier rather than sticking with Brunell - oh well, if his receivers can catch the daggone ball we will be fine.
Who knows what would have happened. If you throw someone in too fast, QBs often sink. Think of Heath Shuler and Patrick Ramsey...ruined because they didn't have enough time to learn before they started.
Ramsey was ruined because Spurrier thought that having and O Line was an option.
tribeofjudah wrote:Good read...... true fans already recognize a sparkling Diamond in JC.
Boy, imagine had we played the kid earlier rather than sticking with Brunell - oh well, if his receivers can catch the daggone ball we will be fine.
Who knows what would have happened. If you throw someone in too fast, QBs often sink. Think of Heath Shuler and Patrick Ramsey...ruined because they didn't have enough time to learn before they started.
Ramsey was ruined because Spurrier thought that having and O Line was an option.
tribeofjudah wrote:Good read...... true fans already recognize a sparkling Diamond in JC.
Boy, imagine had we played the kid earlier rather than sticking with Brunell - oh well, if his receivers can catch the daggone ball we will be fine.
Who knows what would have happened. If you throw someone in too fast, QBs often sink. Think of Heath Shuler and Patrick Ramsey...ruined because they didn't have enough time to learn before they started.
Ramsey was ruined because Spurrier thought that having and O Line was an option.
What? Block the middle blitz? Why do that?
One of those things for which I can not forgive ESPN was about midway through year 1 of the Spurrier disaster, they ran a piece on QBs who were "tough" which, in this instance, was defined by their ability to bounce back from hits. Didn't even MENTION Patrick. Frankly, I am not in the school of thought that says a better coach would have made Ramsey a star (though I don't believe the argument lacks credence) but he was absolutely a tough guy.
See, this is why I don't think the argument has no merit, it's a matter of fact that Spurrier stunted his development badly and hurt his confidence but I'm of the belief that his ceiling wasn't very high to begin with. I think he would have been a solid starter but not a star.
Fios wrote:See, this is why I don't think the argument has no merit, it's a matter of fact that Spurrier stunted his development badly and hurt his confidence but I'm of the belief that his ceiling wasn't very high to begin with. I think he would have been a solid starter but not a star.
I agree 100%. Ramsey would have been a good career backup. A guy that's in for a game or two.
Ramsey IMO lacked the intagibles that we so highly covet in JC. It's the stuff that you can't teach and that can't be learned. You're either born with it or you aren't. Things like poise, pocket awareness, leadership.
All I know is I'll feel a lot better about our chances each year if we can finally have a little stability at QB.
I don't know anything about JC's throwing motion or whatever, but as a fan its not hard to admire how cool that kid is. He just never looks rattled.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You can't do epic **** with basic people." - DJax "We're on the rise, man, whether you're on the train or not." - Josh Norman
btw Just a thought. Would you rather have PRam as our #2 backing up JC right now? I think I would.
Collins or Brunell can probably help out in a pinch. But I'd hate to go to one of those guys for any extended time.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You can't do epic **** with basic people." - DJax "We're on the rise, man, whether you're on the train or not." - Josh Norman
I agree Riggo. I would have liked to see Gibbs have some time to work with Ramsey under good terms not what happened when he first got here. I can see both sides of that argument.
Fios wrote:See, this is why I don't think the argument has no merit, it's a matter of fact that Spurrier stunted his development badly and hurt his confidence but I'm of the belief that his ceiling wasn't very high to begin with. I think he would have been a solid starter but not a star.
I agree 100%. Ramsey would have been a good career backup. A guy that's in for a game or two.
Ramsey IMO lacked the intagibles that we so highly covet in JC. It's the stuff that you can't teach and that can't be learned. You're either born with it or you aren't. Things like poise, pocket awareness, leadership.
JC def has a much higher ceiling. Ramsey didn't have any pocket awareness, but I think he could have learned it if he could have sat and watched a real vet QB play for a season.
Seriously, it had to have helped Campbell to watch Brunell during the 05 and 06 seasons. Ok, more the 2005 season. While Brunell's arm was/is awful, he was very good at sliding around in the pocket.
I think it's tough to ask any rookie QB to come in and start from Day 1. If JC was asked to do the same, I'm not sure he would have ended up as polished as he's been for us.
PulpExposure wrote:JC def has a much higher ceiling. Ramsey didn't have any pocket awareness, but I think he could have learned it if he could have sat and watched a real vet QB play for a season.
I don't think that's something you can learn, you either have it or you don't. Like how some people can tell if you're staring at them or can feel you walking up behind them. I could drive a Ford F-350 towards Pat and he wouldn't know it.
That presence is something you're born with. The ability to side step it, step up, or scramble are things that can be taught/improved upon. But you gotta feel it.
riggofan wrote:btw Just a thought. Would you rather have PRam as our #2 backing up JC right now? I think I would.
Collins or Brunell can probably help out in a pinch. But I'd hate to go to one of those guys for any extended time.
As a long-time Ramsey fan, I admit that Campbell is a better prospect than Ramsey ever was. However, we'd be far better off with Ramsey as a backup than we are now.
What still angers me is that Brunell was playing ahead of both Cambell and Ramsey, which was absurd. Brunell should never have been acquired. Gibbs' handling of Brunell/Ramsey will forever be a black mark on Gibb' rep, every bit as much as playing Danny Awful is a black mark on Spurrier's rep.
frankcal20 wrote:I agree Riggo. I would have liked to see Gibbs have some time to work with Ramsey under good terms not what happened when he first got here. I can see both sides of that argument.
Gibbs can perform miracles with a QB....
Mark Rypien... Need I say more....
#21 (36) This IS and will always be the High watermark where all new DB's are measured.
Fios wrote:See, this is why I don't think the argument has no merit, it's a matter of fact that Spurrier stunted his development badly and hurt his confidence but I'm of the belief that his ceiling wasn't very high to begin with. I think he would have been a solid starter but not a star.
I agree 100%. Ramsey would have been a good career backup. A guy that's in for a game or two.
Ramsey IMO lacked the intagibles that we so highly covet in JC. It's the stuff that you can't teach and that can't be learned. You're either born with it or you aren't. Things like poise, pocket awareness, leadership.
I agree - Ramsey, given better preparation could have been as good as a lot of QBs now playing - he has a lot of talent and guts and just did not get a chance to adapt and prepare for the transition from the college level to the NFL IMO
This gives more credence to the old question about when it is best to put the QB out there - there are many instances of both methods working but I have a lot more faith in the assessment of a coach like Gibbs and when he thinks a QB can handle the transition - there are a lot of QBs playing and starting right now that are barely good enough to be a back-up in reality and Ramsey would have been as good or better than most of them if he had the right coaching in the first place.
Until recently, Snyder & Allen have made a lot of really bad decisions - nobody with any sense believes this franchise will get better under their guidance Snyder's W/L record = 45% (80-96) - Snyder/Allen = 41% (59-84-1)
tribeofjudah wrote:Good read...... true fans already recognize a sparkling Diamond in JC.
Boy, imagine had we played the kid earlier rather than sticking with Brunell - oh well, if his receivers can catch the daggone ball we will be fine.
Exactly. Some people called for JC to be the starter out of training camp last year, and they caught a ton of grief for it, but by the end of the year, the Brunell bandwagon was pretty empty.
To be clear, I am saying that Gibbs plus Ramsey still doesn't equal great QB, I think he would have been slotted to the role of decent starter one way or another. And that's not to disparage that type of QB, it's just I don't think Ramsey was a "wow" QB, irrespective of his coach. In a Gibbs offense he's probably fine given what would be asked of him but I think he'd be lost in Saunders offense.
Chris Luva Luva wrote:SS ruined his career, it was like the kid couldn't feel a mountain bearing down his back because he got some jaded to get hit.
I totally agree with this. He was a tough guy and had a cannon. He should be starting for OAK or NYJ hell even ARI... still got love for him and would gladly accept him back to WAS
>>>IT STARTS WITH D and O LINEMEN, EVERY DOWN, EVERY GAME, EVERY SEASON<<<
RIP # 21!
Tired of people who think we need superstars at EVERY position to excel... we dont... just 53 guys who are tough an smart
JC def has a much higher ceiling. Ramsey didn't have any pocket awareness, but I think he could have learned it if he could have sat and watched a real vet QB play for a season.
Seriously, it had to have helped Campbell to watch Brunell during the 05 and 06 seasons. Ok, more the 2005 season. While Brunell's arm was/is awful, he was very good at sliding around in the pocket.
Brunell had no pocket presence whatsoever in 04,05, or 06. At the first sign of pressure he would just chuck the ball out of bounds. He very rarely ever stepped up in the pocket and was afraid to take any type of hit. Receivers never really had a chance to get open with MB04 because he would get rid of the ball way too early most of the time.
Chris Luva Luva wrote:Ramsey IMO lacked the intagibles that we so highly covet in JC. It's the stuff that you can't teach and that can't be learned. You're either born with it or you aren't. Things like poise, pocket awareness, leadership.
ey. Plus, his deep ball accuracy is much better as seen by the throw he put right on the hands of WR Santana Moss that Moss dropped.
