Why Will Jason Campbell Succeed In Oakland?

The former Washington Redskins Quarterback Jason Campbell has not had the best career.  By no means has he had the worst either.  His supporting cast in Washington was not that great, and constantly changing systems and having people in your city talk about wanting you out makes it hard for a player to get confident and preform up to their potential.  

Campbell getting traded to Oakland is the best for both teams.  Oakland finally gets an established Quarterback, and Washington finally gets what they wanted, Jason Campbell gone.  

Campbell has a lot of upside compared to some other quarterbacks.  First off, he has gotten better every single season he has played.  

Lets start with his stats from 2006, in which Campbell started seven games for the Redskins.  His Quarterback Rating was the lowest of his career at 76.5 (which is still better than Russell has had).  He completed 53.1 percent of his passes and threw for 10 touchdowns, along with six interceptions.  For the first time as a starter, these numbers are not too bad.  Since then he has gotten better in every single category.  

Last season Jason Campbell started 16 games as the Redskins Quarterback.  In those games he completed 64.5 percent of his passes for 3,618 yards.  Campbell also threw for 20 touchdowns and had a Quarterback Rating of 86.4.  

These numbers may not be the best, but it also needs to be looked at the supporting cast Campbell had in Washington.  Portis got injured, his best offensive weapon Chris Cooley goes out against the Eagles and what about Moss?  Teams just keyed off on him and lets face it, who else were they really going to go after?

In Oakland, Campbell may not have the best supporting cast, but he does have some promising young players.  At WR there is the Raiders 2009 first round pick DHB.  Now as a Raider fan I was very disappointed that the Raiders passed on Crabtree for DHB, but at the same time DHB does have something that I do admire.  His work ethic.  He has been praised for all the effort he has put in this offseason, and I for one am hoping that this effort has happened and he shines on the field.  With his speed, he is a tremendous deep threat that will work well with Campbells arm.  

Next there is our other rookie from last year, and somebody I am excited to see again, Louis Murphy.  Murphy was a steal in the fourth round and proved to be a solid player in tough spots.  Look at his game against the Steelers last year with Bruce Gradkowski at QB.  When given a solid QB the Raiders Wide outs can be good.

Throw in another playmaker tight end for Campbell, Zach Miller.  Miller has been the one solid player for the Raiders Offense since he has gotten drafted in 2007.  Last Year he started 15 games, had 66 Receptions (led the team) 805 yards and three touchdowns. This was when the Raiders played shuffle the QB around, and he still preformed.  Look for Miller to come along even more this season with Campbell at QB.

Finally the run game.  The Raiders did everything they could this offseason to improve their team, adding depth on the offensive line, and working on getting Darren McFadden and Michael Bush ready for the start of the season.  

McFadden has disappointed Raiders fans so far, but has shown us some bright spots.  Put him behind a decent offensive line, that will include two rookies in Jared Valdheer and the Workout Warrior himself Bruce Campbell, and a healthy Robert Gallery I see the Raiders having a solid run game to help take the pressure off of Campbell.  

Also to help Campbell by making the games close, the Raiders addressed their defensive struggles.  The No. 8 overall pick of this season Rolando McClain was a sign of this. McClain is somebody who is expected to step in right away and contribute to the defense.  

In the second round the Raiders drafted another solid player in Lamarr Houston.  I am not sure of where they expect to put Houston after all of the other acquisitions the Raiders made this off season.  The Raiders traded for Quentin Groves, and Kamerion Wimbley, and signing former pro-bowl Defensive Tackle John Henderson.  

All of these moves show that the Raiders want to improve on what was one of the worst run defenses in the league last season.  By doing this it means that teams will be forced to throw, and having one of the best CBs, Nnamdi Asomougha, in the league is going to make that tougher for teams.

Campbell may not be the best quarterback in the league, but he is certainly an upgrade from the Quarterback troubles of the past three years for the Raiders.  Expect Campbell to improve on his stats from last season, and expect the Raiders to return to form this season.