Does Jason Campbell look like a Pro Bowler to you? To Joe Theismann, he does.
The former Skins great (some would say part-time blowhard) spoke with Sirius NFL Radio earlier this week, and Krem's Sports Blog relayed his comments.
"I think the one thing that I see more than anything is there's going to be some be consistency around him. He's finally in a system where he actually gets to practice the same things that he practiced last year and he gets to grow from them. And as a quarterback or as anybody studying film, when you look at yourself on film, you know why you made certain decisions. In Jason's case, seven of the last nine years, or eight years, both college and professionally, when he looks at film, it doesn't apply to the coming year because it's all different, so he's never really growing during the season. He will in this particular year. I watched him in spring ball, in the OTAs and the minicamps [and he's] much more confident, much more comfortable."
There's likely some truth to the consistency of coaching argument, but when you have an owner with an itchy trigger finger who's generally looking for the short-term fix, consistency is hard to come by. Danny Snyder seems to govern by Emerson's old saying that "consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."
The wrinkle is that Emerson was referring to a "foolish consistency", and if there's been one constant with the Skins over the past 10 years, it's that the team has been in constant flux.
Campbell's returning with the same coaches and many of the same players, so there's potential to grow. The biggest personnel changes have been on the offensive line, and while it could fall apart given the cohesiveness lines usually need, last year's offensive line rarely gave JC the time he needed to make the right decision, well, consistently.
The stage is set for Campbell to have a big year. But the Pro Bowl? Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Alternatively, the stage is set for Campbell to also fall on his face.
And if that happens, Snyder's going to be consistent, going for more big changes in the next offseason.
Chris Needham used to write Capitol Punishment. He'd bet low on Campbell this season.
