In Defense of Jason Campbell

By Todd L. Frank | Friday, January 15, 2010 | ( 0 )

Got something to say?

With new head coach Mike Shanahan and new GM Bruce Allen in place, the first hot topic of discussion in Washington centers around what they’ll do with Jason Campbell and if they’ll draft a big-name QB with the #4 overall draft pick. We’ll look at the draft prospects and potential strategies as we get closer to April. But first let me offer a defense of Jason Campbell.

Of course, beyond the first unknown (what Shanahan and Allen think and plan to do), there’s also the fact that Campbell could be an unrestricted free agent, or a restricted free agent, depending on what happens with the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement. Obviously that will affect things, as will the offers Campbell gets from other teams. Muddying the waters even further are the different levels of “keeping” Campbell: as the definitive starter resigned to a new multi-year deal? As a lame-duck starter playing out the final year of his contract while a rookie is drafted/groomed? Or even in competition to start over said rookie and possibly a free agent veteran to be signed later?

Since we don’t know any of that, let’s just take a closer look at Campbell before tossing him aside as most of the football pundits claim should be done.

We all know Washington had a horrific offensive line that was already below average before getting killed by injuries. And we all know that Dan Snyder spent all last offseason making googley eyes at Jay Cutler and Mark Sanchez. His most reliable receiver, TE Chris Cooley, went out for the season just a few games in. Clinton Portis and other RB’s also missed significant time. So, Campbell was certainly set up to fail in some respects and then there was plenty of dysfunction among the coaching staff and front office that only worsened the conditions of Campbell’s workplace during the season.

So how’d he do? Let’s check out the numbers. He had career bests in completion percentage, yards, TD’s, and QB rating. His completion percentage of 64.5 was 10th best in the league, just behind Aaron Rodgers (64.7). His QB rating was a solid (and career-best) 86.4, good enough for 15th in the league, less than a point from being tied for 14th. Not bad. A few spots below Eli Manning, Donovan McNabb, and Joe Flacco; a few spots ahead of Chad Henne, Jay Cutler, Vince Young, David Garrard; one spot ahead of Carson Palmer.

Sure, QB ratings and how they’re calculated can be confusing. But supposedly they work as a pretty good way to judge QB’s by taking into account multiple stats and not just seeing who had the most yards or TD’s. So what does 86.4 mean? I don’t know, that’s why I let you know who was just ahead and behind him. For a little more perspective: Tom Brady’s career playoff rating is 85.5.

It’s also important to point out that Campbell’s QB rating in the red zone went up to 110.9; in the second half it was 93.3 and with the game tied it was 93. Pretty good.

Over his career, Campbell’s QB rating is 82.3, which is comparable to other QB’s who are perceived to be franchise QB’s better than him: Cutler (83.8), Hasselbeck (83.3), and Eli Manning (79.2).

Some other numbers: he was the 3rd-most-sacked QB in the league and endured the 7th most hits. Football Outsiders has all these crazy new stats for measuring all sorts of stuff (how’s that for technical terms?) and they determined that Washington’s offensive line was 26th in run blocking and 27th in pass protection. Offensive indeed. Elsewhere, the team was 24th in kick-return average and 30th in punt-return average with 0 TD’s on returns. That certainly won’t help a QB either.

If you’re thinking “It’s not just about numbers; there’s more to it than stats,” then you’d be right. I mean just last week in the playoffs Rodgers was lights out passing for 4 TD’s and over 400 yards in a loss while Flacco was 4 of 10 for 34 yards and an interception in a win. And now if you’re thinking “Stop making excuses for a mediocre quarterback; he doesn’t have IT,” then you’d be wrong.

In addition to the steadily improving numbers over his career, and especially this year with all the adversity on and off the field, Campbell has shown some serious toughness, maturity, and professionalism. The knock on him is that he’s quiet, not a rah-rah yell-in-faces leader. Well he is who he is. He’d look like a fool if he started screaming like Phillip Rivers and Peyton Manning. But the aforementioned toughness, maturity, and professionalism are the kinds of things you can’t coach and he’s got ‘em. And the guys in the locker room seem to love him.

The other knock I’ve heard is that he’s just an ok non-elite QB; a game manager; the type you don’t win Super Bowls with. Maybe. But as of this writing, Phillip Rivers and Drew Brees haven’t won Super Bowls. Neither has Flacco, Rodgers, or Tony Romo. Just because Eli Manning has a ring, is he really that much better than Campbell? I don’t think so. How would Campbell look with the running game or offensive line enjoyed by Flacco and Eli?

I hope Shanahan sees all that and agrees, hopefully to the point that they resign Campbell to a long-term deal and use that #4 pick on the best available offensive lineman.

Got something to say?