Examiner: Campbell's offseason progress..

[authentic]

OMG! i can't wait for the season to begin!!!!!! :point2sky

Jason Campbell’s offseason progress has Redskins buzzing

Jul 27, 2007

by John Keim, The Examiner

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http://www.examiner.com/a-849550~Jason_Campbell_s_offseason_progress_has_Redskins_buzzing.html?cid=rss-Washington_DC

Inside the offensive meeting room at Redskins Park, Saunders pointed to the screen where Campbell, in a minicamp practice, resembled a new, or at least improved, quarterback. On this play, Campbell simply completed a four-yard out to Cooley. But it’s not the yards that mattered.

“See how more compact Jason is,” Saunders said. “See how he carries the ball; see how square his shoulders are. His read is excellent. There’s no windup there; the ball never falls below his elbow.”

It’s textbook.

“That’s the most growth I’ve ever seen in a player from where Jason was before I got hurt [last November] to now,” running back Clinton Portis said. “It’s night and day.”

“I feel different,” Campbell said, “totally different.”

The Redskins and Campbell know the second-year starter must thrive for them to think about the playoffs after a 5-11 season. In seven starts last year, Campbell completed 53.1 percent of his passes for 1,297 yards, 10 touchdowns and six interceptions.

“Last year I was learning the offense the same time as I was playing,” he said. “A lot of my throws now are totally different because my timing is better. On some throws last year I would wait on the receiver because I was unsure about everything I was doing. Now when you know the offense and you know where the receiver is supposed to be, it’s easier to throw to him.”

It’s also easier because he’s more polished. Saunders said the Redskins want him to improve his completion rate by 10 percent.

So they focused on his footwork, fixing everything from how he stood under center to how he dropped back. They changed how he held the ball, having him do so at shoulder level, reducing his windup.

Two weeks after the OTAs ended in early June, Saunders gave Campbell some homework. Each week, Campbell was given blank pictures. Saunders would give him a shift and a formation and a pass play and Campbell had to diagram it, putting in his progression and reads against a particular defense, letting them know he understood protection schemes and his responsibilities.

And they worked on his diction in the huddle.

“Early on, he was stumbling over words in the huddle,” Portis said. “He had a lot of uncertainty.”

To combat that, Campbell worked on his pronunciation of plays. He’d walk downfield and, simulating a no-huddle or two-minute situation, call out plays.

And his tone in the huddle improved, just like other parts of his game.

[MarkPSkins]

I'm glad CampBell is improving, but really, isn't all this mechanics and other tinkering something they should have been working on since day one. Not just when he became the "official" starter. It tells me that all CampBell did in early 2006 was watch. Did no coach ever work with his release, play calling and anything else that needed work. Why did they wait a year to start fixing stuff?

[taylorcoreskin]

I love hearing Saunders analyze Campbell. I trust his analysis more so than anyone else's.

[Cyber Pimp]

Great news! Hope this kid can develop into something nice.

[CPortJGibbs89]

I love reading how far he is progressed but before I get really excited I want to see how he looks on the field first.

[ThomasRoane]

Man, I can't wait to see all that hard work show up on Sundays!

[SkinsNoles21]

I'm glad CampBell is improving, but really, isn't all this mechanics and other tinkering something they should have been working on since day one. Not just when he became the "official" starter. It tells me that all CampBell did in early 2006 was watch. Did no coach ever work with his release, play calling and anything else that needed work. Why did they wait a year to start fixing stuff?

Negative Nancy is that you?

[SkinsNoles21]

I'm glad CampBell is improving, but really, isn't all this mechanics and other tinkering something they should have been working on since day one. Not just when he became the "official" starter. It tells me that all CampBell did in early 2006 was watch. Did no coach ever work with his release, play calling and anything else that needed work. Why did they wait a year to start fixing stuff?

I heard they just told Campbell to make sure he is inside before the street lights come on....

and no sweets after dark.

Other than that, coaches didnt really do anything with him at all.

[Enter Apotheosis]

I'm glad CampBell is improving, but really, isn't all this mechanics and other tinkering something they should have been working on since day one. Not just when he became the "official" starter. It tells me that all CampBell did in early 2006 was watch. Did no coach ever work with his release, play calling and anything else that needed work. Why did they wait a year to start fixing stuff?

Keep in mind that the whole team spent most of last season trying to learn a new offense. Campbell evidently put in a lot of work this offseason trying to gain a mastery of the system and that makes a huge difference.

Its hard to focus on mechanics and the little things (like huddle clarity) when you aren't confident in your ability to run the system and have to focus your attentions toward that endeavor.

[MarkPSkins]

Negative Nancy is that you?

I go by the name Negative Nadia.

[TheFan]

Wow. Sounds like he's in the army...

"We're gonna teach ya how to walk, talk, throw, **** like an NFL QB."

TheFan

[MarkPSkins]

Keep in mind that the whole team spent most of last season trying to learn a new offense. Campbell evidently put in a lot of work this offseason trying to gain a mastery of the system and that makes a huge difference.

Okay, what did he do between April and October 2006??

Its hard to focus on mechanics and the little things (like huddle clarity) when you aren't confident in your ability to run the system and have to focus your attentions toward that endeavor.

I'm sorry if it's "hard" but it should have been addressed, maybe it was, but obviously it wasn't worked on. Someone is paying you millions of dollars, your position coach is making almost as much as you , you should have had all 700 pages memorized last year, yes I know practical application not withstanding, and someone should have been working on the little things as well. These guys play football 12 hours a day from June-(hopefully)-February. There is time to work on the little things.

[willmb5]

Its gona be so nice watchin Campbell droppin back in the pocket in the season opener. Even though he's still young and relatively inexperienced, he brings that big play ability that all the Gibbs I Super Bowl QB's had but Brunell lacked for the most part. This is gonna be a fun year.

[Zen-like Todd]

Okay, what did he do between April and October 2006??

I'm sorry if it's "hard" but it should have been addressed, maybe it was, but obviously it wasn't worked on. Someone is paying you millions of dollars, your position coach is making almost as much as you , you should have had all 700 pages memorized last year, yes I know practical application not withstanding, and someone should have been working on the little things as well. These guys play football 12 hours a day from June-(hopefully)-February. There is time to work on the little things.

It is well known at this point that it takes at least a season to get comfortable with Saunders' offense. And that even goes for a veteran QB. Now imagine a young QB who has been in a different system every year (all throughout college), who is third on the depth chart, gets few snaps, and on a team that "hid" its offense during preseason games. He had a lot on his plate.

[Enter Apotheosis]

Okay, what did he do between April and October 2006??

Study the offense, split second team reps w/Collins.

I'm sorry if it's "hard" but it should have been addressed, maybe it was, but obviously it wasn't worked on. Someone is paying you millions of dollars, your position coach is making almost as much as you , you should have had all 700 pages memorized last year, yes I know practical application not withstanding, and someone should have been working on the little things as well. These guys play football 12 hours a day from June-(hopefully)-February. There is time to work on the little things.

I can guarantee that little things were worked on but there were most likely different little things than what he's worked on since he first started. There were likely certain kinks with regards to his game that were fixed before he got playing time and there were also some kinks that couldn't be deciphered until he got playing time. You pretty much assume that he didn't improve at all between getting drafted and the end of last season, but the simple fact of that matter is that his improvement has just been accelerated over the past offseason.

The amount of work he seems to have put in goes above and beyond what you might normally expect, so you might expect his level of improvement would reflect that. Also, it should be a no brainer that Brunell needed a bit of work himself when we switched offenses and would have taken away from Campbell's one-on-one time with coaches.

[gortiz]

I'm glad CampBell is improving, but really, isn't all this mechanics and other tinkering something they should have been working on since day one. Not just when he became the "official" starter. It tells me that all CampBell did in early 2006 was watch. Did no coach ever work with his release, play calling and anything else that needed work. Why did they wait a year to start fixing stuff?

I got to imagine, when the bullets are real, any work he did, which was minimal at best, went by the way side.

[macnoke03]

That was a cool analysis to read. It sounds like he has made great strides this offseason. I can't wait to see the results on the field.

[Hiro]

Can't wait can't wait can't wait!!!

[PleaseBlitz]

I wonder how much of the playbook we are going to see this year. I think we saw about 1/15th of it last year.