http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/don_banks/08/01/redskins.postcard/index.html
2. One of things that Washington loves about Campbell is that he allows them to put the long ball back into the play-calling repertoire for the first time since before Mark Brunell arrived in 2004. The Redskins will take their shots down the field this season, hopefully after sucking the defense in close in an effort to shut down their running game. That's something Brunell's relatively weak arm wouldn't allow, even though he and Santana Moss had some long-distance connections in 2005. I'd be surprised if Campbell doesn't consistently try to stretch the field and find Moss and Antwaan Randle El a step behind the defense, because the offense desperately needs more big-play production than it got last year.
Camp Confidential
I'll have more to say about this next week, but the Redskins, to a man, feel like they're in a pretty low-risk situation with Campbell as their starting quarterback. In talking to Gibbs, Saunders, Moss, Brunell and offensive tackle Jon Jansen, I heard every one of them say that Campbell has done everything in his power to give himself the best possible shot at success as a No. 1. He's dedicated, intelligent, shuns the off-field distractions that can trip up a young player, and his progress in terms of his grasp of the playbook and his mechanics are described as dramatic compared to last year at this time.
But with a young quarterback's development, nothing can substitute for experience, and Campbell only has seven starts under his belt (he was 2-5 to end last season, but with 10 touchdown passes, six picks, and a 76.5 QB rating). So we don't know everything we will know in time. But nobody in Washington believes Campbell can fail on the level of a Heath Shuler, or even prove as average as a Patrick Ramsey. Saunders told me the kid has way too much going for him from both a character and a talent standpoint for a flameout to occur.
"He won't fail, because of the type of young man he is, and the way he works and approaches the game,'' Saunders said. "Great quarterbacks have three things: Great composure. Great courage. And great temperament. He has all those intangibles. He just needs to develop his physical technique and his understanding of the offense, and how that part of the game works. But that will come with experience. I actually feel great to be working in the NFL with a kid like this. They're rare.''
