Campbell Still the Starter, But How Much Longer?

Jim Zorn has officially announced that Jason Campbell will start against the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football. Campbell was benched to thunderous applause during last week's game against the Chiefs after completing only 9 passes for 89 yards in the first half. Campbell was drafted in 2005 with the hope that he would soon breakout and establish himself as a premiere NFL quarterback. He has thus far failed to do so. With the Redskins poised to rebuild at the end of the season, Campbell needs to give the team and the fans some reason to believe in his ability. With the state of the team, however, that ship may have already sailed.

Campbell was brought in to be the future quarterback of the Redskins. In 2006, he took over the team starting in seven games. He threw 10 TDs and 6 INTs. Not bad numbers for his first real season. In 2007, Campbell failed to really inspire with 12 TDs and 11 INTs. He also fumbled the ball 13 times, turning the ball over 8 of those times. While the Redskins did in fact make the playoffs that year, Campbell missed the last three games and the playoff loss to Seattle with an injury. The team's success that season really wasn't attributed to Campbell. In order to help Campbell develop, the Redskins hired Jim Zorn as offensive coordinator after Joe Gibbs retired. Zorn had helped Matt Hasselbeck develop and the team hoped Zorn would help Campbell breakout in the 2008 season. The season started off very well as Campbell was solid setting a franchise record for most consecutive passes without an interception and the team went 6-2. The Redskins then tapered off finishing 8-8. Despite the great start Campbell finished with 13 TDs, 6 INTs, and 7 fumbles. Now six games into the 2009 season, Campbell has 6 TDs, 6 INTs, and 8 fumbles. Hardly the numbers expected of him in his fourth season as a starter.

Clearly, you can't blame all of the Redskins' problems on Campbell. The offensive line is a joke offering him little protection. Still, 8 fumbles is too many, even if only 2 of them have been lost. Fumbles have been a problem his entire career and he is on track for over 20 fumbles on the season. As a quarterback, he has to have better vision and be able to escape the pocket. He was a fairly mobile quarterback at Auburn, but seems to have lost that ability in the NFL. While Zorn has proven he can't really coach, or call offensive plays, he still is a proven quarterbacks coach. Yet, he has not been able to do anything with Campbell. Campbell's stats have not been terrible, but he has not come close to the expectations the organization had when they drafted him. So far this season, Campbell is ranked 17th in passing yards, 18th in passing TDs, and 26th in INTs. Complain about the offensive line all you want, but Campbell has been sacked as many times as Brett Favre this season and less times then Ben Rothlisberger and Aaron Rodgers. The simple fact is that the great quarterbacks in the NFL find a way to get the ball to their receivers and Campbell certainly has plenty to choose from. He was not drafted to be a middle of the pack quarterback and yet that is what he is.

Some people may cut him some slack because of the new offense Zorn brought with him. While he did in fact struggle to learn the West coast offense, Campbell has been much worse in Zorn's second season than he was last year. Even if you are willing to give Campbell a pass you are resigning yourself to another full season. Why? Everyone knows that Zorn will not be the head coach next season. Now Campbell has a whole new offense to learn. Do we then give him another 2 years? If the Redskins do decide to give Campbell another shot, they can't grab another quarterback in the offseason just in case. After Campbell's reaction to the team's attempts to acquire Jay Cutler and Mark Sanchez, it's clear that another quarterback hunt would be the end of Campbell's career in Washington. Sticking with him is an all or nothing gamble. How long are the Redskins willing to settle for a mediocre quarterback before they realize the experiment has failed? If Campbell still wants to wear maroon and gold next season, then he has 10 more games to prove he can do so. Otherwise, you can add quarterback to the long list of problems the Redskins need to fix in the offseason.