One of the new wrinkles with the Raiders this year will be offensive coordinator Al Saunders' drawings on the board. While head coach Hue Jackson said he will continue to call the plays, Saunders will be bringing a huge playbook with which he will surely be copying some pages and putting them in the new one.
Plus, the former Chargers head coach and Chiefs, Rams and Ravens offenisve coordinator has a year and a half experience working with Raiders quarterback Jason Campbell with the Redskins in 2006-07.
In 20 games, Campbell completed 360 passes in 624 attempts for 3,997 yards, 22 touchdowns, 17 interceptions and a career-worst quarterback rating of 76.9. Campbell got hurt in 2007, and backup Tood Collins came in to lead Washington to four straight wins and the playoffs.
Still, one observer thinks Saunders and Campbell will be on the same page this fall. Former Redskins quarterback and NFL analysst Joe Theismann has seen a lot of Campbell and is close friends with Saunders, and we talked on the phone last week.
"The offensive line he had in Washington was just horrible, so you can't put too much into those numbers he had with Al in Washington," Theismann said. "It's all set up for Jason this year -- they have a great running game, Hue is back and Al is there so Jason will be working with a system he knows."
One of the reasons/excuses tied to Campbell so far in his NFL career that he has always had to deal with new offensive coordinators -- evem back in school at Auburn. Theismann can buy that.
"He has had system after system, new voice after new voice," Theismann said. "So, how can you evaluate a Jason Campbell based on that, with no stability? Last year, he came on and finally started to show a little confidence and made some strong sides. The Raiders can be a playoff team if Jason has a good season."
Theismann said Saunders will work with Campbell on getting the ball out of his hands quickly. And he will find the right buttons to push.
"Al is one of the great offensive minds in the history of the game, but his real gift is the way he asks professionals to do thier job," Theismann said. "He knows how to speak to men, about being accountable and dependable. Just a great, great hire for the Raiders."
Saunders is best known for his work with running back Priest Holmes and the high-powered Chiefs, but Theismann thinks Zach Miller could have a bigger breakout season than running back Darren McFadden.
"Al loves tight ends, really loves them," Theismann said. "And Zach is a really good one, so I know Al is excited about that."
Theismann thinks their are a lot of similarities between Campbell and Niners quarterback Alex Smith. Because of the lockout, Smith won't be getting any competition from rookie Colin Kaepernick this season.
"The lockout means a lost year for those seven young quarterbacks that were drafted high," Theismann said. "They have no chance. They have missed out on classroom time with their coaches, and I'm sorry, throwing the ball around with your teammates in player workouts is not going to mean a lot when the preseason starts. They've had no orientation."
Theismann's favorite of the rookie quarterbacks was Andy Dalton, because he showed heh could "do it all, running the spread and under the center." He is not sold on Kaepernick -- who the Raiders were also interested in trading up for on draft day.
"He has a lot of athletic ability, and he made a lot of plays with his legs in college," Theismann said. "He's going to learn that in the NFL, 70 percent is about throwing and only 30 about running. He's not real efficient and his delivery is interesting, to say the least."
Theismann recently became a spokesperson for U.S. Preventive Medicine, and is spreading the message about the importance of proactive health management and risk prevention.
"It's a plan to help individuals identify their top health risks and giving them the advice, tools and encouragement to maintain and improve their health," Theismann said of uspreventivemedicine.com.
Theismann: Saunders and Campbell will get it right : Raiders Silver and Black Blog
