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Bruce Campbell: To Be or Not To Be, That is the Question?
By TOMApril 1st, 2009 |
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Campbell is an enigma wrapped inside a Combine trying to be something he cannot be. He is the most athletic 300 pounder I have ever seen. Physically, he should be the greatest player in the history of football, but that he cannot be. He has been a limited player, who has received limited playing time, and why he has not been more is the question that the Raiders are asking themselves now.
The question that I have is that super freakish athleticism a positive or a negative. When you have otherworldly athleticism like Campbell, and can't play up to your athleticism there is always an amorphous reason floating behind the scenes. If you cannot figure out what that reason is he will continue to struggle. With Campbell, rumors of attitude and problems listening to coaches seems to be the starting point to his lack of experience. However, as a Combine Wonder, he put on an amazing show. At the time Campbell ran his Forty, the fastest time recorded was by Trindon Holiday. He ran a Forty time of 4.34 at 160 pounds, if Campbell weighed 5 pounds more he literally would have run 4.78 at twice the size of Trindon Holiday! That mean if you include size Campbell ran twice as fast as Holiday;-) That is how impressive his forty was.
Which us back to his question, is that super freakish athleticism a positive or a negative? Over the past three seasons you could argue Campbell was the best athlete in all of college football, and yet he has only started 17 games. As freshman he missed 4 starts, he was active for only 5 games. As a sophomore he missed 6 starts and was active for every game. Last season he went 9 for 9, he missed 3 games due to a sprain knee and toe. Coaches often see these super freaks and think, "oh my goodness, if I could get my hands on him I could mold him into the best player on the team." The problem is that rarely happens. I am becoming more and more convinced that these super freaks who don't really produce, that their super athleticism has to be seen as a negative. Physically he has everything you could dream of, but on the field he consistently looks awkward and misses assignments. So mentally, physiologically, and/or instinctually he doesn't have what it takes. Take Ben Watson and Vernon Davis, the top two super freaks Drafted in the past 6 years or so. Neither one is ever going to catch 70 or 80 catches like Tony Gonzalez does every year. They don't have that knack for getting open and they don't have the hands for catching everything. Are they underachieving or are they maximizing their potential?
Ben Watson was good player for the Pats, but he always left everyone wanting more. Some said he never want to be a star. I disagree. He was smart and he worked very hard. He worked very hard to make himself a good blocker. He works very hard in his blocking in the running game, and his most famous play was in the Play Offs against Denver when he amazingly hustled all the way down field to force a fumble on an interception. So to say he did work hard or hustle isn't true. No matter how hard he worked or what he did he was never able to produce on the field. He had limited instincts and limited hands. He excelled at at the physical measurables at the Combine. However, he was lacking in the unmeasurables, and caught only 19 passes his Senior year at Georgia. He was not a bad guy. He was not a dumb guy. He certainly didn't have an attitude problem. However, no matter have hard he worked, he couldn't learn that knack for getting open and catching the ball. The unmeasurables he lacks is instincts. The question with Campbell is what are the unmeasurables he is lacking? And how high is his potential with the limitations we know he has? And how can we define what he is to be, and what is he not to be?
His ceiling is limitless as far as athletic ability. However, football is game that transcends just physical ability. His ceiling is a lot lower than his Combine performance would indicate. His first problem is an obvious lack of experience. The other question is, is he going to be able to take tough NFL coaching? He displayed some of the attitude questions he has been rumored with at the Combine. However, the lack of level of his play has been greatly exaggerated, just as the level of his ceiling has been great exaggerated by his Combine workouts.
He has all the physical trait you to be a OLT in the NFL. He became a fulltime starter halfway through the 228 season, and once he joined the starts the O-Line really came together, and allowed only one Sack a game the rest of the year. Plus he was often left out on an island, and the O-line often shifted to the right to help the ORT (he is all alone of the left side 0:06). When he gets his big mitts on a D-End he is done (you can't just run up field on him 0:14). Another problem is that when he is in a 3-point stance, and they are running the ball, he will arch his back a little extra. A lot of scouts say he lack aggression and doesn't finish. However, when I watch him play, he often looks better against the run than the pass. Again, because he so big and strong everyone thinks he should just knock guys on their butts every play. He is never going to be a street fighting mauler. He is a finesse blocker who has a nice burst in the running game, and will complete his assignment and his assignment only. He rarely looks to block a second guy (which tells me he lacks some football smarts and instincts), and he rarely knocks guys on their butts. He is happy to stalemate his assignment. However, he does lack some power on short yardage (notice the arch in his back 0:20).
He struggles with the smaller guys who use shake and bake quickness in passrusher, and that is were his lack of instincts really show. However, as the rest of the O-Line shifts right, it leaves a giant hole to the inside, and he often struggles against the inside move as he is so cognizant of protection the outside (notice the rest of the OL shifting right, as the ORG helps out the ORT 0:30). Campbell is a smart player who understands his assignment, and is at his best when a D-End tries to run the horn (he just catches guys to the outside 0:37 0:43 ). He does a nice job seal blocking out in space (great position, but never took his eye off his assignment 0:49).
He does a nice job firing off the line, but doesn't play with the power you would like. He should be coming off low and destroying D-Ends in front of him. However, he comes of and extends his long arms and is happy to just keep holding and shoving his assignment. He is so strong hat he gets away with playing to high, rather than getting low, knocking his assignment down, and looking for another defender. He doesn't push him backwards until the DE tries to move laterally (I don't think he will ever have the instincts to block a 2nd defender 0:55). Okay, this is were scouts get frustrated with him, when he tries to get real low and play with power, he struggles. I question his instincts in drive blocking and power blocking. As big, physical, and athletic as he looks, he is not a physical on the field as he looks. He is a physical freak athletically who lack power instincts (1:04).
Campbell is not really a top ten pick, like he looks athletically, but he is a 3rd Round pick either. He is a big, powerful, super freak who lacks drive blocking and power instincts. And let me let you guys in on a little secret, as good as all the O-Tackles are in this years Draft, they all come with issues. He lacks the ability to block multiple defenders, and the punch, power, and instincts an O-Lineman needs to block multiple players. When he gets tired or lazy he tends to play to high, something he got away with in college, but will not be able to just over power NFL D-Ends so easily. He struggles against quickness, and too often whiffs on the second level against smaller players. Plus, when you talk about Campbell you have to bring steroids into the equation. If he didn't look like a guy on steroids at the Combine than nobody ever did.
However, he is smart and understands his assignment. He is a finesse blocker who uses his long arms and athleticism to get into position, fight, and seal D-Ends, like a lot of very successful O-Linemen in the NFL. He is all but impossible to beat to the outside in the passrush. To be an OLT in the NFL, you have to be able to protect the edge, Campbell may be the best outside pass protector in this Draft. To be a legit OLT in the NFL he will need to go to the right team. A power blocking system like Steelers will cause him not to be a good Left Tackle. He needs to be in more of a finesse system, or zone blocking scheme. Where the system accentuates athleticism over power, like say the system that Tom Cable favors.
Campbell is another super athlete who has a lot of work to do to be the best he can be, as guys who explode at the Combine often do. He is terrific knee bender in his Kickstep. Plays with good form. Excellent patience in PP. However, he sometimes lowers his hands and need to keep his elbow in. Plus, he sometimes struggles when he has to move to his right. He is the best athlete in the Draft, when you consider size as well. Smart guy. The more consistent he can get with his technique and the better leverage he plays with, the better NFL player he is going to be, but he will never have the instincts to be a power blocker. He has All-Pro talent physically, he just has other unmeasurables that team lower his ceiling. Has only played in 26 games and started 17, so some of his inconsistency can be seen as lack of experience. He needs to be in a finesse one blocking scheme if he is going to be a good OLT, or he is not going to be a good OLT.
If you have any questions or comments feel free to email me:
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