Campell Is On His Way To A Decent Year

Coming into the season, I knew JaMarcus Russell would struggle. Even when he was drafted, I expected little out of Russell. I have outlined my thoughts about Russell in my Players At A Crossroads article about him. The Raiders, however, seemed to think Russell would be solid this season. After releasing Jeff Garcia, the Raiders had no one to play quarterback if/when Russell struggled.  This, of course, is a problem the Raiders are realizing right now. Russell has been so bad this season, that he was benched for Bruce Gradkowski last week. Going forward, it looks like Russell will get another chance to shine as the Raiders starting quarterback. While the Redskins have been nearly as bad as the Raiders this season, Jason Campbell doesn’t seem to be struggling as much as you might expect. As a matter of fact, Campbell is well on his way to some career highs this season…if he can keep his job.

That’s right, Jason Campbell is well on his way to having his best season as a pro. Then again, his career high in touchdown passes is only 13. However, if you look at Campbell’s numbers this season compared to his career highs, you might be surprised.

As you can see, Campbell is well on his way to setting new career highs in almost all major passing categories. Unfortunately, this also includes interceptions, which I conveniently left off that list. It appears, however that Campbell is trying to stretch the field more often and taking more risks. While a more reckless Campbell has led to more turnovers, he is also on his way to a career year. What do we make of this exactly? I’m not all that sure. Some elite quarterbacks can overcome high turnover numbers and still have tremendous seasons. Jason Campbell, however, has never shown that he is good enough to overcome the turnovers. While Campbell looking like a nice prospect coming out of Auburn, he doesn’t possess the game changing ability of an elite quarterback. So, what exactly is Campbell?

Despite A Decent Year, Campbell May Have To Compete For A Job

That is probably the question many teams will be asking themselves in the off-season. If Campbell can keep his job all season, he may actually have some decent numbers. The problem is, with Jim Zorn under pressure, he may be forced to mix things up and bench Campbell is the Redskins continue to lose games. Also, with all the negative press the Redskins are receiving, teams might just pass over Campbell all together. When all is said and done in 2009, Campbell might have some deceptive numbers. Even though his team (and ownership, and coach, etc.) was under scrutiny, he actually didn’t have a poor season. Unfortunately, unless Campbell has a better second half, I’m not sure any team signs him as a starting quarterback. Chances are, Campbell will have to compete for a starting position next season.

What does it all mean? I picked the right guy this season, but it might not be enough for Campbell to get a shot in 2010. Here is your stat breakdown for 2009.