Silver and Black Report

Memo to the Oakland Raiders: Hand over the starting quarterback job to Jason Campbell.

Oakland made the right move this weekend acquiring a passer that: a) has starting experience in this league and b) has solid skills and a good enough resume to help this team back to respectability.

“I look at this as getting to start over,” said Campbell. “I talked to Mr. [Al] Davis, and he wanted me for two years. He wants me to help their team to a new level.”

And that he can do, more than any other signal caller on the current Raiders roster.

All indications are that JaMarcus Russell is a goner. SBReport.net sources have said that the former number one overall choice out of LSU can be cut as early as this week. So what remains?

Bruce Gradkowski, an underdog fiery passer who says all the right things, works hard and has the backing of his teammates. But he hasn’t even established himself in this league, has all the credentials of a back-up and if Oakland does elect to go with Gradkowski, there are too many unknowns, ranging from whether or not he can stay healthy a whole season to his production over a course of a campaign.

Campbell at 28 has far more experience with his four years of service with the Washington Redskins.

Four campaigns where he dealt with a new offensive hierarchy practically every season and an unstable offensive line in 2009 that allowed 46 sacks (28^th in the league).

Yet he managed to start every game the last two years and improve on his statistics every campaign since entering the pros.

In 2009, he topped all his career marks with 327 completions, 507 attempts, 3.618 passing yards, 20 touchdowns a completion percentage of 64.5% and a rating of 86.4.

And that was on a team that ranked 27^th in the NFL rushing the football (94.3 yards a game) and was treacherous along the trenches. During his 52-contest career as a Redskin, Campbell chucked the football for 10,860 yards and 55 touchdowns. No Raiders’ passer: Russell, Gradkowski, Charlie Frye, nor Kyle Boller can match any of those accomplishments.

Campbell lost his job because Mike Shanahan went with a scorned veteran named Donovan McNabb. A player the Raiders also reportedly pursued.

But that was not an indictment on him, as his time in Washington had run its course; with a revolving door of coaches and systems that bogged down the developing quarterback.

Insecurity also ran rampant, as Campbell dealt with the possible arrivals of other passers, like when owner Daniel Snyder flirted with the notion of bringing in Jay Cutler and his interest in Mark Sanchez prior to last year’s draft.

Sherman Lewis was plucked out of retirement and handed play calling duties in October of 2009 – a Raider-like move that showed dysfunction within Washington’s organization.

“I try to always be positive and find the positives in every situation, but I’m not going to lie and say last year was a normal situation because it wasn’t,” Campbell said of the madness. “Everything that we went through, I had never seen anything like it.

“I could have said stuff about it [publicly], but what was that going to help? My teammates counted on me to go out there every day, prepare as hard as I could and play as hard as I could. I know some guys get caught up in talking all the time and not focusing on the right things, but I just wanted to try to set a good example as the quarterback of the team and try to win. But it was hard. You looked around some days and just couldn’t believe some of the stuff that was happening, but I had to just push through and do the best job I could. I wouldn’t have been able to do that if I got caught up in all that stuff.”

Even teammates realized the tribulations Campbell endured. “Every year they were trying to find somebody to replace him,” outside linebacker Lorenzo Alexander commented. “It’s kind of hard to perform and have the confidence in yourself when you’re not always backed completely. I mean, he had his opportunities, but I don’t ever think he had the complete chance of just going out there and competing, not worrying about his job.”

Oakland should now give Campbell a new lease on life and empower him. Let him know it is his team. His huddle. And that new offensive coordinator Hue Jackson will work with him solely to reach one goal. To make him the best possible passer he can be – something that the Redskins never attempted to do.

“I’m just waiting to see what happens and find out where I’ll be at,” Campbell said Thursday in a phone interview. “Whether it’s here or somewhere else, it would be nice to know something soon so I know what I need to do.”

The Raiders should tell him one thing…

Get ready to lead your new club. That Russell will not be an obstacle and that his issues in the past will just serve to make him a better player in Silver & Black.

“It would just be good to know, as soon as I can, where I’m going to be at. Once I know that, I’ll know how to approach the situation as far as moving forward,” Campbell was quoted.

Oakland should now move forward with one passer firmly entrenched as the starter…

Jason Campbell.