hail_2_da_skins
12-14-2006, 05:39 PM
Like the goober I am, I spent quite a bit of time reviewing and grading Campbells performance against the Eagles. I wanted to do it to really look at what his issues were, and not get caught up in my own general opinions that can be influenced by the overall success of the team. I graded him based on the quality of his throws, the quality of his decisions, the type of defensive set, the quality of the line protection, and whether or not the reciever helped or hurt his cause.
What I expected to find was that the line was a major source of his problems, but the line protected amazingly well on Sunday, in fact, I only graded them poor on two of the pass plays(plays where a pass was actually thrown). What I ended up learning, and you guys have probably talked about it to death here, was pretty interesting.
#1 He has got to stop taking such big drops.
He has a big problem with this. He takes 5-7 step drops on most every play and it is hurting him. He often finds himself dropping so far back that he backs out of the pocket and then has to scramble. He needs to stop and step up, not keep falling back. This is not be design either. You can see that it breaks up the rhythm of the play and is not a design element. More importantly, it adds distance to every throw and disrupts timing. It reminds me of watching a newbie play Madden. They just keep backing up so it will take longer for the line to get to them and they can read the receivers longer, but it really is hurting them.
#2 He stares down receivers badly.
This is obvious to everyone, but he really does an awful job of this. The second interception Sunday was a good example. He was staring at Cooley from the snap and never looked anywhere else. On top of that, it was a slant and the ball placement was bad(he did not lead him over the middle, but rather put it on his shoulder to close to the break). The combination of too factors like that mean that your recievers have to make great catches just to avoid disasters.
#3 He fails to pull the trigger.
They can say what they want about him shaking off mistakes, but he didn't on Sunday. Those two picks rattled him, and it got worse throughout the game. In the NFL, you have got to deliver the ball before the break. You cannot wait to see the break and see if your receiver is open. If you do that, then the guy will be coming into a new coverage zone by the time you get the ball there. The ball must be delivered on time so that the break creates the separation you need. You have just got to trust your receivers and make an accurate throw. In the second half it got worse. He would wait to see guys open by several steps before making a throw. Now, he was smart enough to often realize that he had waited too long and that it would be unwise to throw it, and so he had to pull it down and run or look for the dump off, but that doesn't cut it. Those recievers weren't blanketed, the plays were there, he just lacked the heart to make the throws.
Conclusions
There were some other small problems too, but these are the major issues. When you put all three of those things together, you aren't going to get very many games where you play four good quarters. The good news is, every one of those mistakes is correctable. The bad news is, they are the kind of mistakes that become habits, and those habits will keep you from becoming the kind of QB you can be. I hope he can correct some of these problems. His ability to move around can be a nice asset if he can get the rest of his game worked out.
Despite some of these technical flaws, he was effective in the second half and made plays that Mark Brunell couldn't. The two turnovers were bonehead plays, especially the one that went for a touchdown. That was a guaranteed field goal to a touchdown for the opposition.
I get the feeling that you think these technical flaws are uncorrectable. Would you rather still be watching Dr. Dumpingstein? Where was this criticsm of Mark Brunell. Mark Brunell drops were too deep. The tackles attempted to veer the pass rush to the outside and many times Brunell was too deep for the protection. Brunell starred down his primary receiver and 9 times out of 10 failed to throw to anyone further than 5 yards downfield. I would call that failure to pull the trigger.
What I expected to find was that the line was a major source of his problems, but the line protected amazingly well on Sunday, in fact, I only graded them poor on two of the pass plays(plays where a pass was actually thrown). What I ended up learning, and you guys have probably talked about it to death here, was pretty interesting.
#1 He has got to stop taking such big drops.
He has a big problem with this. He takes 5-7 step drops on most every play and it is hurting him. He often finds himself dropping so far back that he backs out of the pocket and then has to scramble. He needs to stop and step up, not keep falling back. This is not be design either. You can see that it breaks up the rhythm of the play and is not a design element. More importantly, it adds distance to every throw and disrupts timing. It reminds me of watching a newbie play Madden. They just keep backing up so it will take longer for the line to get to them and they can read the receivers longer, but it really is hurting them.
#2 He stares down receivers badly.
This is obvious to everyone, but he really does an awful job of this. The second interception Sunday was a good example. He was staring at Cooley from the snap and never looked anywhere else. On top of that, it was a slant and the ball placement was bad(he did not lead him over the middle, but rather put it on his shoulder to close to the break). The combination of too factors like that mean that your recievers have to make great catches just to avoid disasters.
#3 He fails to pull the trigger.
They can say what they want about him shaking off mistakes, but he didn't on Sunday. Those two picks rattled him, and it got worse throughout the game. In the NFL, you have got to deliver the ball before the break. You cannot wait to see the break and see if your receiver is open. If you do that, then the guy will be coming into a new coverage zone by the time you get the ball there. The ball must be delivered on time so that the break creates the separation you need. You have just got to trust your receivers and make an accurate throw. In the second half it got worse. He would wait to see guys open by several steps before making a throw. Now, he was smart enough to often realize that he had waited too long and that it would be unwise to throw it, and so he had to pull it down and run or look for the dump off, but that doesn't cut it. Those recievers weren't blanketed, the plays were there, he just lacked the heart to make the throws.
Conclusions
There were some other small problems too, but these are the major issues. When you put all three of those things together, you aren't going to get very many games where you play four good quarters. The good news is, every one of those mistakes is correctable. The bad news is, they are the kind of mistakes that become habits, and those habits will keep you from becoming the kind of QB you can be. I hope he can correct some of these problems. His ability to move around can be a nice asset if he can get the rest of his game worked out.
Despite some of these technical flaws, he was effective in the second half and made plays that Mark Brunell couldn't. The two turnovers were bonehead plays, especially the one that went for a touchdown. That was a guaranteed field goal to a touchdown for the opposition.
I get the feeling that you think these technical flaws are uncorrectable. Would you rather still be watching Dr. Dumpingstein? Where was this criticsm of Mark Brunell. Mark Brunell drops were too deep. The tackles attempted to veer the pass rush to the outside and many times Brunell was too deep for the protection. Brunell starred down his primary receiver and 9 times out of 10 failed to throw to anyone further than 5 yards downfield. I would call that failure to pull the trigger.