Jason Campbell has 57.7 QB rating throwing right, vs 92.2 QB rating throwing left

[Atlanta Skins Fan]

Set aside 2008 for the moment. What can we learn about Jason Campbell that can help explain his failure to develop as an NFL QB?

Here's something. In 2007, Campbell had a 57.7 QB rating when throwing right, compared to a 92.2 QB rating when throwing left. (Source: Elias Sports Bureau, via ESPN stat splits, combining categories.)

In all measurables, Campbell was greatly inferior throwing right vs left:

• Yards Per Attempt: 5.13 (right) vs 7.58 (left)
  
• Competion Percentage: 55.0 (right) vs 62.6 (left)
  
• Touchdowns: 3 (right) vs 7 (left)
  
• Interceptions: 8 (right) vs 3 (left)
  

These stats for left vs right combine the split stats for "left side" and "left sideline" (for left) and "right side" and "right sideline" (for right). The pattern is stable by direction (favoring left), but "right sideline" is worst of all (53.3 QB rating, vs 66.5 for "right side").

By comparison, Todd Collins had a 111.1 QB rating throwing right, and a 99.6 QB rating throwing left. So, Campbell's QB rating is nearly the equal of Collins when throwing left, and vastly inferior when throwing right.

2007 was not a fluke. In 2006, Campbell also threw better to his left than to his right, but the differences were less pronounced on the sidelines, where he was awful on both sides.

Meanwhile, in 2006, Brunell threw for a higher QB rating when throwing right than when throwing left. So, for both 2006 and 2007, Campbell was the only QB who was worse throwing left than right. In 2005, Brunell threw better when throwing left, but his stats for throwing right were still strong (83.0 QB rating). Thus, for three years running (2005 - 2007), Jason Campbell has been the only Redskins QB to have difficulty throwing right.

Why is this?

If Jason Campbell threw to his right as well has he threw to his left, he might not be facing the end of his short career as an NFL starter. The pattern is too strong to be random variation. Whatever the cause, apparently it is difficult to fix. It needs to be fixed for Campbell to succeed in the NFL.

[SMOSS89]

my roomate (who is a dallas fan) told me this, actually, and it got me to thinkin about it. And yes, it is his weakness for whatever reason.

[TK]

I blame Brunell. Damn that lefty.

[PCS]

ASF, your first attempt at this thread can be found in your other one, where it was merged. Why start it again?

[jrockster21]

Funny, because all he had to do to beat me was turn left.

[Atlanta Skins Fan]

ASF, your first attempt at this thread can be found in your other one, where it was merged. Why start it again?

The topics are unrelated. Prior thread was about trying Collins and Brennan as starters. This thread is an insight to Campbell's troubles, not previously posted by anyone (I believe), and is my attempt to post some constructive observation about what Campbell needs to do to succeed.

Did I exceed my semi-annual thread quota?

[PCS]

The topics are unrelated. Prior thread was about trying Collins and Brennan as starters. This thread is an insight to Campbell's troubles, not previously posted by anyone (I believe), and is my attempt to post some constructive observation about what Campbell needs to do to succeed.

Did I exceed my semi-annual thread quota?

I look at it as furthering your position about Campbell being able to start. Could be a disagreement there, but that's the reason why it was merged. Pick up the conversation there.

[PCS]

Have at it.

[Shilsu]

Just throwing a theory out there to see if it sticks on the wall.

Is it possible that teams gameplan on Jason Campbell seeing just one side of the field, and since he's right handed, they assume he will throw to the right side?

Is it possible that when Jason Campbell locks onto a receiver, it's usually on his right side? But the few times he actually scans the field, he's able to make a play to his left side?

Examples from the Giants game....

First play of the game, Jason Campbell has locked onto a receiver on his right side, and thus ignores the wide open pocket and passing lanes in front of him and runs into Heyer and Tuck.

On the deep pass to Santana Moss, Campbell locks on Moss, rolls some more to the right... And the pass is deflected away.

On the play before the TD pass, Campbell is once again locked onto Moss on the right side despite another receiver crossing right in front of him and having room to run (much like the very next play where Moss was running the crossing route and scored the TD after the catch), and pretty much lobs it into the endzone that is thankfully deflected and not intercepted.

[Oldfan]

Someone made the same observation after the Detroit game last season.

I have an explanation.

It's very likely that Al Saunders had Jason making his reads left to right. Since, Jason was slow making his read, his throws to the right were a tad late and made under more pressure than those on the left.

[Shilsu]

Someone made the same observation after the Detroit game last season.

I have an explanation.

It's very likely that Al Saunders had Jason making his reads left to right. Since, Jason was slow making his read, his throws to the right were a tad late and made under more pressure than those on the left.

That sounds pretty plausible.

[Mooka]

Why is this?

JMO:

I'd say the first option in passing plays generally is on the strong side.

I don't think its a secret how to stop our offense atm. Take away Jason's first passing option because his field vision isn't great and he's slow to go through progressions.

[Thinking Skins]

I'm glad this thread was reopened....I HATE jumping into the middle of a 200 response page thread trying to find a particular post I want to respond to!

Anyway, here's what I said in the other thread:

If Jason Campbell threw to his right as well as he threw to his left, he might not be facing the end of his short career as an NFL starter. The pattern is too strong to be random variation. Whatever the cause, apparently it is difficult to fix.

OK, I see what you're doing and its even a smart thing to do. But I question can you break the stats down further? Say for example, can you complete his ratings when throwing to particular WRs? Because this stat of R vs L could be very dependant on that (where does Moss generally line up? Cooley? ARE? Thrash? Lloyd? Portis?) Then we could look a step further by combining these stats to see if his problems are say with throwing to Moss over the middle? or Thrash deep left? or a few other scenarios.

And what you've done in effect isn't a way of showing that this is JC's problem, but it shows what he has been best at. There would still need to be considered things like how often plays are called for him to go right vs left, how much time he generally has to go right vs left (remember that the left is his blind side), and how often those plays break down? There are other things as well - how often was it a bad pass vs a WR running the wrong route, or dropping a ball, or just going against a better CB?

Your stats do a nice job of bringing up a topic on JC's abilities, but they are hardly conclusive on the subject. And so its not even concievable to say that its difficult to fix because we don't even know THAT its a problem yet.

[Stophovr6]

That sounds pretty plausible.

I don't know. If that's the case, Saunders doesn't seem to bright to me. Why design an offense where all route progressions for every passing play are from left to right? That seems silly and predictable.

I'm not saying Jason isn't doing this, I'm just saying that if it's by design, it's stupid.

[Shilsu]

I'm glad this thread was reopened....I HATE jumping into the middle of a 200 response page thread trying to find a particular post I want to respond to!

Anyway, here's what I said in the other thread:

OK, I see what you're doing and its even a smart thing to do. But I question can you break the stats down further? Say for example, can you complete his ratings when throwing to particular WRs? Because this stat of R vs L could be very dependant on that (where does Moss generally line up? Cooley? ARE? Thrash? Lloyd? Portis?) Then we could look a step further by combining these stats to see if his problems are say with throwing to Moss over the middle? or Thrash deep left? or a few other scenarios.

And what you've done in effect isn't a way of showing that this is JC's problem, but it shows what he has been best at. There would still need to be considered things like how often plays are called for him to go right vs left, how much time he generally has to go right vs left (remember that the left is his blind side), and how often those plays break down? There are other things as well - how often was it a bad pass vs a WR running the wrong route, or dropping a ball, or just going against a better CB?

Your stats do a nice job of bringing up a topic on JC's abilities, but they are hardly conclusive on the subject. And so its not even concievable to say that its difficult to fix because we don't even know THAT its a problem yet.

The reason those variables you mentioned may be a factor, but most likely aren't, is that the original poster has shown that Mark Brunell and Todd Collins did not have those problems. The only thing that changed was the quarterback.

[Larry Brown #43]

I'd be curious to see if any productive QBs around the league have significantly better numbers throwing to one side or the other. If so, then I wouldn't worry about it.

Interesting stuff, though. I really have no idea what to make of it.

[Oldfan]

I don't know. If that's the case, Saunders doesn't seem to bright to me. Why design an offense where all route progressions for every passing play are from left to right? That seems silly and predictable.

I'm not saying Jason isn't doing this, I'm just saying that if it's by design, it's stupid.

One of the innovative features of the Coryell offense was its read progression. The routes are supposed to open up sequentially. Ideally, the OC will mix it up, left to right, then right to left. But, maybe Al was trying to keep it simple for Jason.

[elkabong82]

Could have something to do with Randle El playing better than Moss (given their positions) last season, as well as the right side of the line being comprised of injured back-ups.

[Thinking Skins]

The reason those variables you mentioned may be a factor, but most likely aren't, is that the original poster has shown that Mark Brunell and Todd Collins did not have those problems. The only thing that changed was the quarterback.

True, but he also indicated that Brunell had problems (though not as pronounced) with one side over the other. It could easily be a chemistry thing with a WR (like Brunell likes Moss and Campbell likes ARE), or a thing where Brunell's passes were easier to catch, or that Brunell was running more complex plays where there was more of a possibility of things to open up.

The thing is that we're looking at such a small sample size, so any correlations we come up with from these stats will be over-hyped assumptions at best.

[corrupt3d]

Who was the QB who was on the right?

And what was his QB rating when throwing down the middle (i.e. Chris Cooley for the most part) - if you can find it

[Ray Brown]

its like johhny drama said in the new entourage, "I just don't go right, everyone knows its my bad side"

[Atlanta Skins Fan]

I'd be curious to see if any productive QBs around the league have significantly better numbers throwing to one side or the other. If so, then I wouldn't worry about it.

I checked Tom Brady for 2007. His QB rating was between 105 and 138 for each of the five areas charted by Elias. (Left sideline, left side, middle, right side, right sideline.) Four areas were tightly bunched between 105 and 119.

I realize your question is broader than Tom Brady, but there is one comparison outside the Redskins for you, as the spread for the best-of-class QB.

It might be instructive to pick five top QBs and compare to five terrible starting QBs. Name five really bad starting QBs, and I will check as I have time.

[The Rook]

Great thread - glad to see it reopened by the mods. :notworthy

A couple of thoughts:

1. - WR Screen - This is a high % pass and we seemed to favor the right side.

This may skew the statistics.

2. - Depth perception - My left eye is more dominant than my right and I have better depth perception on the left side. A simple visual perception test can check for this. Additionally, JC can wear an eye patch during the week to strengthen the week eye.

3. - Cross body vs. open throw - Jason may just have a better touch when his pass crosses in front of his body. Most of us do. It is the stabilizing control of our upper chest muscles that helps that style of throw. His "open" throws seem to "fly away". This can be corrected by proper foot work.

:helmet: The Rook

[Atlanta Skins Fan]

It might be instructive to pick five top QBs and compare to five terrible starting QBs. Name five really bad starting QBs, and I will check as I have time.

I did a quick scan of the top 33 ranked QB starters for 2007, where Jason Campbell was ranked #20. Of the 13 QBs ranked below Campbell, only two QBs showed a marked difference in QB rating when throwing left vs right.

These were Brodie Croyle and Damon Huard, both with the Chiefs. Each QB did much better throwing left than right. Maybe that was a "system" issue for the Chiefs last year, or maybe they are coincidentally substandard throwing right.

The other 11 QBs were fairly consistent throwing left vs right overall, by QB rating. This surprised me. Apparently even among mediocre QBs, such a strong difference by side of the field is unusual. However, I did notice that many of these QBs had trouble throwing over the middle.

This leads me to Drew Brees. Redman has posted about Drew Brees as an example of a slow-developing QB who suddenly blossomed in 2004. In this case, I did notice a problem related to area of field for Brees in 2003. He had a QB rating of 37.3 when throwing over the middle, a completion percentage of 50.6 when throwing to the right sideline, and a completion percentage of 56.1 when throwing to right-center. His TD:INT ratio for center and center-right was 3:8. All of these stats were sharply below his stats when throwing left in 2003. Brees also had trouble throwing over the middle in 2002.

In 2004 and later, his weakness in throwing over the middle and throwing right was solved. For example, his QB rating throwing over the middle jumped from 37.3 to 96.6 from 2003 to 2004. His completion percentage jumped to 73.9 for right-center, and to 70.9 for right sideline. His TD:INT ratio for center and center-right jumped to 8:3.

It appears that Brees solved the weaknesses in his game, by area of field, and doing that elevated all of his stats overall. He became a much more consistent QB, with no obvious weaknesses by area of field.

In this way, Brees does make an interesting comparison to Campbell. I don't actually believe that Campbell can pull off a similar leap in performance, but I do think that the path toward his being a better NFL passer starts with fixing his trouble on the right side of the field.

My hunch is that Campbell's problem is locking onto a receiver and tipping off the defense, when throwing right. That's just a hunch at this point. Maybe he does that less when throwing left.

[skinfan2k]

We have no reliable receivers and often Randel EL is lined up to his left and thus his favorite receiver