How Will Campbell Be Handled?

Anybody care to guess with the coaching staff? How will Jason Campbell be handled this year? Here are some of the factors to consider:

a) Jason, a pocket passer, is better suited to the Saunders offense than Mark;

b) The mental side favors the veteran, Brunell. Al's offense is complex. Jason cannot be expected to grasp it in its entirety and, at the same time, read NFL defenses on the fly;

c) Brunell has started 26 games and has been bothered by nagging leg injuries in about 20 of them. Many fans think that his performance drops off rather sharply when he's not 100%. Mark will be 36 this season;

d) Rookie QBs will make mistakes but, if Jason Campbell is the future, the price for his inexperience has to be paid sooner or later;

e) Making the playoffs is the first goal but having your starting QB healthy for the playoffs is crucial if you're going to make a run at the Super bowl.


Will the coaching staff prepare Jason with a few selected starts against softer defenses?

Will they just give him a series or two per game, increase his playing time, and work him in slowly?

Will they just start him and go with him...keeping Mark in reserve for the really rough spots?

I think Campbell could be successful this season, because Gibbs' system is so QB friendly. Sure, Saunders is on board now, but don't expect a complete overhaul of the offense. Just some new wrinkles. It's still Joe's offense.

That sais, the QB is Brunell as long as he can go. He's still one of the best QBs in the league. I really like our QB situation right now.

Even though they'll both be learning a new offense, Brunell's experience is something you can't teach overnight to a young guy like Campbell and that makes for a much shorter learning curve for Brunell. Along with learning the new offense, Campbell will still be figuring out NFL defenses, learning his reads and progressions, game management, etc.

Why wait you ask? Because when you have a team that is loaded up for a serious Super Bowl run, you don't hand the offense over to a green 2nd year QB when you have a perfectly capable veteran in Brunell who just led the team to the playoffs a year ago.

Campbell's time will come very soon, but for now you have to take your best shot with your most experienced players.
Great pep talk Matty'. I was saying to myself last night if Randy Thomas was playing with us against SEA we would've been playing CAR for the NFC championship game! We are not far from achieving...

No controversy. This is not a Sonny vs. Billy, or Gus vs. Heath discussion. There is no discussion. It's Brunnell's job to lose. He won't. Because the NFL season is a long season, he gets worn down, and he may succomb to injury around week(s) 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10. But MB won't lose his starter status until he goes down.


There is no controversy. Until we lose a game.

I'm not a big Brunnell fan. The season ending win streak and the win in TB as well as the fact we were in the game in SEA were in spite of MB, not because of him.

Going into the season with him as the starting QB scares me senseless.

That said, I'm going to make an arguement in his favor: TD to INT ratio.

It is the most important QB stat and the most under appreciated. MB put up a 2/1 TD/INT last year. With the new WRs and current rules Ray Charles would be able to find somebody open to throw the ball to.

That said MB is a bit long in the tooth and that means he will bounce back from hits more slowly and has a greater probability of going down.

There is at least a 1 in 3 shot we see JC as a starter at some point this season -- but I don't see it happening (without injury) opening night.

If JC does get any significant playing time, it will be very interesting to see how he is managed. Will it be the approach that was taken with Manning in NY or Rothlesberger in PIT?

Great pep talk Matty'. I was saying to myself last night if Randy Thomas was playing with us against SEA we would've been playing CAR for the NFC championship game! We are not far from achieving...

I have no idea why Thomas was still playing in the 4th Quarter of a 35-7 game...

I have no idea why Thomas was still playing in the 4th Quarter of a 35-7 game...

The same reason everyone else was still playing, you can't pull everyone.

There is no controversy. Until we lose a game.

I'm not a big Brunnell fan. The season ending win streak and the win in TB as well as the fact we were in the game in SEA were in spite of MB, not because of him.

Going into the season with him as the starting QB scares me senseless.

That said, I'm going to make an arguement in his favor: TD to INT ratio.

It is the most important QB stat and the most under appreciated. MB put up a 2/1 TD/INT last year. With the new WRs and current rules Ray Charles would be able to find somebody open to throw the ball to.

That said MB is a bit long in the tooth and that means he will bounce back from hits more slowly and has a greater probability of going down.

There is at least a 1 in 3 shot we see JC as a starter at some point this season -- but I don't see it happening (without injury) opening night.

If JC does get any significant playing time, it will be very interesting to see how he is managed. Will it be the approach that was taken with Manning in NY or Rothlesberger in PIT?

Chad Pennington is a guy who sat 2 whole seasons and 5 games extra before he got his first start. He came right out and played well in his first start. He would be one of the best around if he didn't tear his rotator cuff twice.

I expect the same type of thing from Campbell unless Brunell retires after this year.

The job is Brunells untill his inevitable leg injury...then the fate of the offense is in Cambell's inexperienced hands.

If this were Gibbs' choice, I'd say Brunell all the way, but I think Saunders is a bit bolder. Brunell seems to rush through his options, Im not sold that more receivers will make him better at finding them.
We see it the same way.

Mark is 6 feet tall and has a shoulder-high delivery. When the defensive line doesn't allow him gaps to spot his receivers, Mark's game since his Jags days has been to flush from the pocket. As often as he does it, it's not hard to tell that he has time enough for only one or two reads before he rolls left and throws short.

I don't think it's a given that Al Saunders will see what Joe Gibbs sees in Mark's game. And Joe didn't hire him to come here and do things the way they were done in 2004. He told Al that the offense would be his (Al's).

When you draft your franchise QB out of college, there's a price to pay in getting him prepared to play. I think 2006 is the time to begin that process. The talent we have now isn't going to diminish in 2007.

If Campbell has the physical talent we're told he has, then he will cancel out many of his mistakes by making some plays that the 36 year-old Brunell can no longer make.

Curiously in Saunder's offense, there is less to learn than in most. The reason is that there are no audibles. In fact, it's been whispered that he never calls the same play in any four-game stretch. Saunders calls a game predicated on catching defenses out of position.

The job is Brunell's to lose, and it will be difficult for him to do so.

I have no idea why Thomas was still playing in the 4th Quarter of a 35-7 game... 2 words....Dallas Cowboys!!