Nov 11, 2012; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears quarterback Jason Campbell (2) drops back to pass against the Chicago Bears during the second half at Soldier Field. The Houston Texans defeat the Chicago Bears 13-6. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-US PRESSWIRE
While we wallow in the misery of the Bears first loss since Week 2, we also get to be wonder if our QB1 will be ready to go for a Monday Night Showdown with the 49ers. Of course, I am referring to Jay Cutler’s concussion. Likely, we won’t know the deal until Friday at best and Cutler can’t practice or talk to the media until he has been cleared, so buckle your seatbelts for coach-speak at its finest. While I am sure Lovie Smith won’t say anything about Cutler until he is definitively cleared or ruled out, I can assure you, we will hear plenty about Jason Campbell. We all know Jason Campbell was a highly regarded signing this past offseason, but who is Jason Campbell?
Campbell, a product of the SEC, played his college ball at Auburn and, as a senior, led them to an undefeated season and a Sugar Bowl victory, where he was named the MVP. He was also named SEC Player of the year that season. Campbell was then drafted by the Washington Redskins in the 2005 draft with the 25th overall pick. Midway through his second season, Campbell was anointed the starter and he spent 5 seasons with the team before moving on to Oakland for 2 seasons, although he only played in 6 games last season due to injury. Campbell has never quite lived to the hype when he was drafted, but he is about as steady as they come.
Comparing Campbell to his counterparts in the division, he compares incredibly favorably. Campbell is in his eighth season, which is second only to Detroit’s Shaun Hill who has in his eleventh. Green Bay’s Graham Harrell and Minnesota’s Joe Webb are both in the third season. Graham hasn’t yet thrown a pass in the NFL and Webb has only three career starts under his belt and a career passer rating of 66.6. Campbell has 70 career starts, which more than double the other three QBs combined; Hill is second with 26 career starts. In fact the only stat that isn’t in Campbell’s favor is career passer rating where he posts an 82.9 compared to Hill’s 85.9. Lest we forget though, most of Hill’s best work has been done in Detroit with Calvin Johnson as a main target. Campbell has never really had any weapons to speak of in his career unless you count Santana Moss and I don’t.
Phil Emery knew what he was doing when he brought in Campbell. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize Caleb Hanie was not and never was going to be the answer for the Bears. So, Emery took out a good insurance policy when he inked Campbell. I am certainly not going to base my impressions of Campbell by what we saw on Sunday night against the Texans. The guy got zero reps and was asked to come into the game after standing on the sidelines for a half, not to mention the weather conditions. I will reserve my judgment until I see him after a full week of reps. This assumes Cutler can’t go and we aren’t quite there just yet. My preference would be for Cutler to play, obviously, but I am not going to start crying in my orange and blue kool-aid just yet.
CAN I GET AN AMEN?!?!?!?!?!
The DeCon has spoken, so let it be written, so let it be done…