The question on everyone’s mind is can Jason Campbell help the Raiders’ offense score more points and stay on the field longer than the squad was able to do last year? The offseason Raiders’ followers are optimistic about the arrival of Campbell in Oakland. On a recent poll I conducted on Silver and Black Pride’s website, 93 percent of 779 voters thought Jason Campbell would start at QB for Oakland this year. Bruce Gradkowski only received 37 votes (4 percent).
Tom Cable has praised Campbell’s performance so far this offseason. It appears that all the Raiders QB’s currently on the roster are hard workers, but Campbell was drafted out of Auburn as a first round draft choice for the Washington Redskins, 25th overall in 2005. That, coupled with the fact that Bruce Gradkowski cannot throw right now and appears to be injury prone, has Campbell on the fast track to becoming the Raiders starter, as Tom Cable insinuated in his phone call with KNRB Radio, “Without having Bruce healthy, Jason is certainly going to have a good chance to be our guy. We traded for him for a reason, because we felt like we needed an upgrade at the quarterback position and he certainly has done that.”
Let’s break it down, here is the comparison:
Jason Campbell in 2009– 3,618 passing yards plus 236 rushing yards equals 3,854 total yards with 21 TD’s
Raiders QB’s combined in 2009– 2,875 passing yards plus 193 rushing yards equals 3,068 total yards with 10 TD’s
This is not a math exam, so I’ll do the math for you; Campbell topped the Raiders QB’s by 786 total yards and scored 66 points with what many consider to be an equal or worse offensive line in front of him. It’s really hard to tell which line was worse, both lines had injury issues and trouble keeping their QB’s upright.
However, another key factor to toss out there is that Campbell completed 11.9 percent more of his passes in 2009 than all the Raiders QB’s combined. That includes nearly 10 percent better on his completion percentage than his projected strongest competition QB Bruce Gradkowski. But, Bruce brings something that to the table that is extraordinarily hard to learn and that is quality leadership. That’s an intangible that Campbell had a hard time displaying during his stint in Washington.
It’s been duly noted that Campbell is a quiet leader who expects people to learn from the example he sets. But Gradkowski was very vocal in 2009 and his teammates certainly responded to the tough love approach by Bruce. And Gradkowski is just as much of a leader in terms of work ethic and off the field mentality as Jason Campbell is.
Digging into the depths of this dilemma, it seems likely the real battle is going to be deeper than the numbers dialed up on the stat sheet. I’m not going to call Campbell cocky, because in most areas, he appears to not be like that, but whenever he is asked about being the starter for Oakland this year, I kind of get the impression that he feels like he has already won this job.
Here’s an example of one thing he said on Wednesday after practice, “I think we all know who most of the starters are going to be.”
Do “we” really know who most of the starters are going to be? Because I was under the impression that there were still many positions wide open at this point like SSLB, DT, FB, WR, FS, HB, LT, RT, and yes even the QB spot.
Now perhaps one shouldn’t read too much into one comment, so let’s also take into account that when he was talking about the trade to NFL network on that third draft day, Campbell answered an automatic “Yes” to the question, “Will you be the starting QB this year?”
I honestly think Campbell assumes that there is no QB competition. He automatically assumes he is the best QB in Oakland. ESPN’s Bill Williamson agrees with Campbell, he said, “The Raiders didn’t trade for him and then extend his contract so he can be the backup. I know Oakland coach Tom Cable talks about an open competition. But come on. Campbell is the guy. End of story.”
NFL network said in a recent video feature, “[Jason Campbell] could make all the difference for the Raiders in 2010.”
So is it really safe to assume that the battle is over already? Well, one thing is for sure, Jason Campbell is going to continue to work hard and stay on top of his offseason regimen in his attempt to become Oakland’s starter. I don’t think there is any questioning his poise and field presence at this point in Oakland. And he appears to be getting better. Working with Paul Hackett, Hue Jackson, and Ted Tollner should only improve his game, and he has done a fine job of improving it already since his rookie year in Washington. And I always thought it was cool that he could do this:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=
aoYbevFvWg8[/youtube]
However, I don’t think it is safe to assume that Bruce Gradkowski is down for the count. Gradkowski already has a relationship and bond with the guys on this squad, and he proved himself to the coaching staff last year; aside from Hue Jackson. Gradkowski also showed that he is capable of lasering some passes as well, even though folks still tend to question his arm strength. But, this writer certainly can’t count the polish player from Pittsburgh out yet. We haven’t even gotten to see the two compete against each other yet.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=
GjZGWIIPTMw[/youtube]
I think it’s going to be interesting once Gradkowski gets into the mix. It’s going to be interesting to see who gets more first team repetitions in practice at training camp. It’s going to be interesting to see who the Raiders consider their starter during the preseason football games. One has to wonder if they intend to do like they did with the running backs in preseason 2009, where a different guy started each game at the position.
I know both quarterbacks will welcome the challenge. Campbell has said, “You wanna get better, and the only way to get better is competing against each other.” And Bruce said he was disappointed by the trade for Campbell, but also excited because it will make the team better.
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