Gibbs on Campbell

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/redskinsinsider/

Dan Steinberg paid attention as former Redskins coach Joe Gibbs appeared on the debut of Mike Wise's show on WJFK.

Some of the best stuff concerned the quarterback he drafted, Jason Campbell.

"The quarterbacks that we've been fortunate enough to be with the years that I coached, they went through some tough times, believe me, all of them did....Theismann, at one point we benched Joe....Mark Rypien got benched mainly for turning the ball over....Doug Williams came in really as a backup, he'd been through a lot of things in Tampa, went to the USFL, got bounced around, got criticized for a lot of things....


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Drafting Sanchez allegedly would have bothered Campbell to the point of requesting being moved. Would that imply that, according to Gibbs, he's "probably not made to play quarterback in the NFL"?

Or he is just saying that all good quarterbacks in DC needed to prove themselves, and Campbell is no different?

No doubt, QB for the Redskins carries a lot of weight, but the best are able to use that in a positive way. We'll see if Jason is The Man or not.

If not, what happens next year? Draft a QB? Trade for a QB? Promote from within?

The truth is that Campbell hasn't been surrounded by the kind of talent on offense that Williams and Rypien were. Theismann was a far more talented player than either of the other two SB winning qbs for Washington and made more on his own athletic ability.

Wiliams and Rypien made plays from the pocket down the field.

The offensive line featured linemen in their prime that solid across the front with current and former pro bowlers, and the wide receivers were the best trio in the NFC.

Sound like anything Campbell has been playing with in 2007 and 2008?

My guess is the Redskins would look for a veteran in free agency.

With the contracts handed out to Portis, Moss, Haynesworth, Hall, Samuels and the other veterans on the team, starting over with a rookie in 2010 and hoping to win with him would be a long shot at best.

By the time he was up to speed most of these players would be retired.

Bulldog's Twin said:

The truth is that Campbell hasn't been surrounded by the kind of talent on offense that Williams and Rypien were. Theismann was a far more talented player than either of the other two SB winning qbs for Washington and made more on his own athletic ability.

Wiliams and Rypien made plays from the pocket down the field.

The offensive line featured linemen in their prime that solid across the front with current and former pro bowlers, and the wide receivers were the best trio in the NFC.

Sound like anything Campbell has been playing with in 2007 and 2008?

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Yeah. I think what we've come to realize is that Campbell, while he may be a capable QB, isn't a franchise-type QB that can carry a team in the mold of Favre, or even McNabb. With a good group around him he could produce, but he's not going to elevate the play of those around him.

And like you say, it's been since Theismann that we've really had a guy like that.

How many 'franchise' QBs are there really? I'm not even sure Theismann ever truly qualified as one? He was opportunistic, shifty, could make something out of nothing on a broken play, and had great energy, but he could also be pretty average. Best thing about Joe was, when you needed him to show up big, he usually did, and he rarely played badly enough to put the Skins out of a game. I'm not ready to relegate Campbell forever to monikers like 'serviceable' and 'average'...I think we've all seen flashes of someone who could be an outstanding QB, if he can continue to grow and step it up. I think we'll know this year if he has that kind of evolution in him.

Campbell's 2008 campaign marked a personal high for yardage, TDs, completion %, and QB rating, as well as a personal low in INTs since becoming a starter. He's also done everything possible in terms of being at the park, film work, and off season training.

The only stat that counts, however, is wins. 5 in '06, 9 in '07 and 8 in '08. I think Campbell needs to break 10 in '09 if he wants us to still be talking about him in 2010.

Aston Gambino said:

The only stat that counts, however, is wins. 5 in '06, 9 in '07 and 8 in '08. I think Campbell needs to break 10 in '09 if he wants us to still be talking about him in 2010.

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Actually, Campbell showed improvement there too. 4 of those 9 wins in 08 belonged to Todd Collins so Campbell really went 5, 5, 8 and the first two seasons were not on full seasons as he came in for Brunell in the first one and he got injured in his second.

I do agree with you about his needed to post a 10 win year this year though. It is time.

Boone said:

How many 'franchise' QBs are there really?

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Not a lot. Doesn't mean we don't want one.

If you want to win the Superbowl these days you either need a franchise QB or one of those glorious years where everyone's healthy and has a career year at the same time.

I'm not even sure Theismann ever truly qualified as one? He was opportunistic, shifty, could make something out of nothing on a broken play, and had great energy, but he could also be pretty average. Best thing about Joe was, when you needed him to show up big, he usually did, and he rarely played badly enough to put the Skins out of a game.

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Theismann was not a hall of famer. He wasn't a great QB. But he was the last one we've had that was even close to great. I'd go so far as to say he was the last QB we've had here that was consistently better than average.

I'm not ready to relegate Campbell forever to monikers like 'serviceable' and 'average'...I think we've all seen flashes of someone who could be an outstanding QB, if he can continue to grow and step it up. I think we'll know this year if he has that kind of evolution in him.

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Oh I'm prepared to give him another year. I'm just not banking on seeing more from him than we already have, which in my opinion is average or serviceable. But hey, it's the NFL and you never know. And that's why we watch, right?

I think most folks are willing to give JC another season to see if he can get it done. Here is the problem; if he stinks on ice then it will clearly be time to move on. On the other hand if he leads the team to the playoffs and/or makes the Pro Bowl then he clearly gets paid big and is brought back to be our QB for the foreseeable future.

Either of those two scenarios have obvious answers that even our front office can’t screw up, but what happens if he just plays “ok” and the team finishes 7-9 or 8-8? Then I think we have a serious problem on our hands. There are so many variables that could come in to play it’s almost not worth speculating about. Will there be experienced free agents available? Do we get a new coach? Can we reasonably blame the talent around JC for his shortcomings? Have we finished poorly enough to get one of the top QBs next year or will we have to trade our whole draft away to move up to get one? Is Colt ready? Will he ever be?

Honestly, I don’t even want to think about this right now. I want to put on my burgundy and gold colored glasses and hope everything will work out. Besides, I’m so sick of baseball right now I can almost scream. I work with a Pirates fan and I don’t need t tell you how painful it is listening to him complain every day. BRING ON TRAINING CAMP!