Campbell, Smoker fight to be Rattlers' QB

Richard Obert
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 11, 2008 04:41 PM

For one of the few times in Rattlers history, there is a quarterback battle in training camp.

Lang Campbell and Jeff Smoker hope to be the player who replaces Sherdrick Bonner, who signed as a free agent with the Chicago Rush after being with the Rattlers since 1993.

Saying goodbye to the franchise's face isn't easy, but Rattlers coach Kevin Guy feels that either Campbell or Smoker can help return the Rattlers to elite status in the Arena Football League. The team has missed the playoffs in two of the past three seasons.

Guy will see if anyone emerges in Tuesday's noon scrimmage against the Los Angeles Avengers at US Airways Center. The controlled scrimmage is free to the public.

Last season, Campbell started for Austin and Smoker for Nashville.

The Rattlers are learning under new offensive coordinator Skip Foster.

"The biggest thing is you can't try to be Sherdrick," said Campbell, who passed for 2,279 yards with 41 touchdowns and 11 interceptions as a rookie last year. "He's one of the best players in Arena history, I think.

"He set the bar pretty high, so I'm striving to reach that."

Smoker, who started 13 of 15 games as a rookie last year, passed for 3,446 yards with 57 touchdowns and 17 interceptions.

"I think the more competition there is, the better it makes us," Smoker said. "It makes you focus more."

Guy said the quarterbacks have many similarities.

"I think it's a good competition going on right now," Guy said.