frankcal20 wrote:I think it's more to do with this overall team not knowing the plays well enough. Steve Young, Mooch, etc said that this offense needs a minimum of 3 years to even tap in what you are supposed to do. I don't think it's JC who doesn't know it, but some others. And keep in mind with so many moving parts, those no way the new players are going to know the audibles.
Oh yeah? Well this circular argument has no end, since it was Campbell's lack of familiarity with the "complex" offense of Al Saunders compared to Collins astute knowledge of it that was the difference in 2007. Now, you want us to believe that the rest of the team just can't learn their individual responsibilities, so Campbell can't be expected to audible out of a poor play because his teammates are clueless?
Look, I said early on at the very beginning of this Zorn/WCO experiment that Jason Campbell was totally the wrong guy to run it. I said this primarily because of three fundamental issues ... 1) He's not a fast "thinking" QB who can quickly detect defensive coverages and recognize where to go with the ball. 2) His passing skills are very inconsistent insofar as accuracy is concerned, and he never demonstrated the knack for executing timing patterns under Saunders ( Campbell's style is to wait for a receiver to become open before throwing rather than throwing to a spot prior to the receiver's break). The WCO relies on a QB to do precisely those things ... quick reads and quick accurate throws to take advantage of YAC. 3) Campbell's inability to quickly recognize coverages makes him an extreme liability in the pass pro department because it is the QB's responsibility in Zorn's WCO to call protections at the line. How can he call proper protections when he can't process and read defenses quickly? The answer is he can't.
The bottom line here is that this isn't simply a case of a leaky o-line. It's far more complicated than that. Campbell misses too many plays when he does have time by either throwing to the wrong progression (thereby not fully capitalizing on opportunities) or completely missing wide open receivers. When he gets pressure, he immediately loses sight of receivers downfield, and often (inexplicably) turns into the pressure rather than escaping from it. This guy is an o-line's worst nightmare. And finally, a guy that has to be "reminded" to step up into the pocket is a guy you don't need running your offense. This is the mark of a guy who just doesn't get it. And after 4 seasons, you have what you have with him. And it's not going to change with a new system or a new set of coaches.
The one consistent thing you do have with Jason Campbell is a guy who continues to make the same mistakes over and over and over again. He consistently fails to make those three or four plays a game that he should make, and those plays can often determine the final outcome of games. And he does this with poor defenses as often as he does with good ones.
I used Aaron Rogers as an example to compare Campbell to because he is what you expect from a 1st round draft pick. He's not Peyton Manning or Brett Favre or Tom Brady ... he's just a very good, solid QB that knows how to play the game, and can win a few games for his team. He is what you expect to get when you decide to heavily invest in a player ... a good player that is a difference maker on the field. Jason Campbell is a liability that scares nobody's defensive coordinators.
Does Campbell have trade value? I wouldn't say he does. But then again, we were able to unload Adam Archuletta, so nothing would surprise me on that front.
