Jason Campbell

Jason Campbell (born December 31, 1981 in Laurel, Mississippi) is an American football quarterback for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft. He played college football at Auburn.

College career
A 2000 graduate of Taylorsville High School in Taylorsville, Mississippi, Campbell went on to play college football at Auburn. As a starter he had a different offensive coordinator every year, finally finding success in his senior year when he led the Tigers to an undefeated season in 2004 and was named the SEC Player of the Year and MVP of the SEC Championship Game. Campbell held the record for the longest touchdown completion in Auburn football history, an 87 yard pass to Silas Daniels in a 2004 matchup versus Louisiana Tech, until Auburn's 2009 game against LA Tech (93 yards by Chris Todd). That record is now held by Cameron Newton, completing a 94-yard pass to Emory Blake on October 2, 2010 in their victory over Louisiana-Monroe. Campbell graduated from Auburn with a degree in public administration.

Pre-draft
Campbell was drafted as the 25th pick in the 2005 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins under General Manager Vinny Cerrato. The Redskins traded up in the draft to get Campbell, surrendering a third round pick in the 2005 NFL draft, along with first and fourth round picks in 2006.

Washington Redskins
On November 13, 2006 Campbell was named the Redskins starting quarterback, and on November 19, 2006, Campbell made his first career start. Despite losing in his first start to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Campbell was praised for his poise.

On November 26, 2006, Campbell had his first win of his pro career, leading the Redskins to a 17–13 victory over the Carolina Panthers. Campbell completed 11 passes on 23 attempts for only 118 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception. Campbell threw a 66 yard touchdown pass to tight end Chris Cooley in the fourth quarter. On August 18, 2007, Campbell was tackled at the knee by Pittsburgh Steelers' DE Brett Keisel in the second preseason game. Initially, the injury looked severe but Campbell eventually walked off the field on his own. Trainers said that Campbell's ligaments were not torn and announced his injury as a bruised knee.

On December 6, 2007 Campbell dislocated the patellar ligament of his left knee during a game against the Chicago Bears. The injury did not require surgery but Campbell did not play for the remainder of the season.

When Joe Gibbs retired for a second time at the end of the 2007 season, the Redskins hired Jim Zorn, first as Offensive Coordinator and then naming him Head Coach. Zorn said at the time he would also serve as Quarterbacks Coach.

The Redskins started the season with 6 wins and 2 losses, prompting observers to declare Campbell one of the NFL's elite quarterbacks, and the 'tough love' approach from head coach Jim Zorn a success. The Redskins then went on to lose 6 of their last 8 games to end the season at 8-8, missing the playoffs. At the end of the season, it was unclear if the Redskins were on the road to improvement or decline. Questions arose on the future of Campbell as the starting quarterback for the Washington Redskins.

Despite pursuing other quarterbacks in the off season, the Redskins were unable to acquire Jay Cutler or Mark Sanchez, opting to start Campbell for the last year of his current contract. Campbell and the Redskins ended 2009 with a 4-12 record, one of the worst in Redskins history. The often rocky relationship Campbell had with head coach Jim Zorn came to an end with Zorn's firing. New Washington head coach Mike Shanahan declared that the Redskins would tender Campbell an offer leading up to the 2010 free agent period, ensuring that if Campbell signed with another team, Washington would receive draft picks in compensation.

Oakland Raiders
After the Redskins acquired Donovan McNabb, Campbell was traded to the Oakland Raiders on April 24, 2010 for a fourth round pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. On the same day, Campbell received a one-year contract extension through the 2011 season. On August 11, 2010, Raiders owner Al Davis compared Campbell to former Raiders quarterback Jim Plunkett.

In the opening game on the road against the Tennessee Titans, Campbell had an unspectacular start to his Raiders career as the Raiders were routed 38-13. He would complete 22 of 37 passes for a lowly 180 yards and throw one touchdown and one interception. Campbell and rookie offensive linemen Jared Veldheer, playing in the unfamiliar role of center, would also suffer multiple miscues and combine for three fumbles, losing one. The offense as a whole would fail to click until the fourth quarter when Campbell completed 7 of 9 passes in a 12 play, 72 yard drive that culminated in a 7 yard touchdown pass to Darren McFadden. In week two against the St. Louis Rams Campbell would endure another lackluster performance, completing 8 of 15 passes for a mere 87 yards and an interception. At half-time he was benched in favor of his backup, Bruce Gradkowski, in the hope of providing the Raiders offense with the spark it desperately needed. Gradkowski would go on to lead the Raiders to a tight 16-13 victory.

Following Campbell's less than inspiring performances in the first two weeks, the Raiders' coaching staff decided to go with Bruce Gradkowski as the starting QB and demoted Campbell to the role of backup. The offense would show a marked improvement in the Week 3 and 4 match-ups against the Arizona Cardinals and Houston Texans respectively. Gradkowski would throw for 255 and 278 yards albeit in losing efforts. During the Week 5 home game against the Chargers, Campbell would come off the bench late in the first quarter to replace an injured Gradkowski. Behind a solid game by runningback Michael Bush, Campbell was vastly improved as he completed 13 of 18 passes for 159 yards and a touchdown. Aided by a touchdown on a blocked punt in the first quarter and a forced fumble returned for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, the Raiders would win the game 35-27 and snap a 13 game losing streak against the Chargers dating back to 2003.

After his improved play in the relief effort against the Chargers and with Gradkowski injured, Campbell was re-installed as the starter for the Week 6 match-up against the cross-Bay rival San Francisco 49ers. The Raiders were unable to find any spark on offense as Campbell once again struggled, completing just 8 of 21 passes for 83 yards and throwing two interceptions. The Raiders would go down 17-9 to then winless 49ers. Although coming off of his worst performance as a Raider, Campbell was assured the start against the division rival Denver Broncos in Week 7 due to Gradkowski's continuing struggles with the shoulder injury he sustained against the Chargers. Campbell and the Raiders started hot against the Broncos, jumping out to a 24-0 lead by the end of the first quarter and never let up in a 59-14 rout. The 59 points scored was a new franchise record. Campbell would complete 12 of 20 passes for 204 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions for a QB rating of 127.9. Campbell would throw a 43 yard touchdown pass to tight end Zach Miller on the game's opening drive and a 19 yard touchdown pass to runningback Darren McFadden.

Ironically, while Campbell was benched by coach's decision, the Raiders lost all three of the games that Campbell did not play in, as the Raiders finished the season at 8-8 and missed the playoffs. They were able to sweep all six division games, and Campbell ended the season with his second-highest quarterback rating of any season (84.5). In 2011, Campbell started the first 6 games, leading Oakland to a 4-2 record before suffering an injury. To replace him, the Raiders signed veteran quarterback Carson Palmer.

Career Win/Loss
As a starter Jason Campbell has a record of 27 wins and 37 losses.

Career statistics
Passing