Are NFL GMs as naive as the posters on this board?

[MoLewisrocks]

Originally Posted by RayClay

Mailbag

Ask Reiss: King of the Cassel - Boston.com

Mike Reiss...isn't he the guy who said the Patriots loved Matt Gutierrez and O'Connell's drafting was likely a sign they wanted to part company with Matt Cassel whom he predicted had played himself off the roster for fair in pre season...?

The people who struggle with this the most are those who were POSITIVE they had Cassel all figured out as a 7th round draft bust...LOL

Mike is a good reporter, or he was before he got married and started trying to earn a few more $$$ as a pundit on the local pre and post game shows...

It's an unfortunate pattern repeated here perpetually. I don't read Mike for opinion, ever.

[JoeSixPat]

Originally Posted by AndyJohnson

I didnt realize that pointing out the fact that the general opinion of Cassel has done a 180 in about 3 weeks was judgmental and self-righteous. I thought I was just pointing out that while people trashing him were overreacting negatively and too soon, people now singing his praises are doing the exact same thing in a postive direction.
Maybe you can explain how that qualifies me as judging anyone or anything. (Last I check noticing overreaction wasn't jugmental) or how it could in anyway be self-righteous unless you think that anyone who identifies a trait among a fan base is only doing so for some typeof selfish reason????????????????
I never expected pointing out that the criticism of Cassel has been too harsh and the praise too effusive could be controversial.

I guess I must have misunderstood you.

When you said that posters on this board were naive I thought you were judging other members of this board, when apparently you were speaking only of yourself.

I'm also unclear why it should come as a surprise that Cassel's pre-season performance, assessed by both fans and GMs as average to below created a perception among fans that he was an average to below average QB.

Nor does it come to any surprise to me that given Cassel's in-season performance - assessed by both fans and GMs as average to above average, would create a perception among fans that he is an average to above average QB.

Is it truly naive for fans and GMs to assess talent and abilities based on performance?

I guess I'm naive then, though I do agree, and am on record that many fans assessed some of Cassel's pre-season games that were actually average to above average, as below average (as a result of dropped passes and poor protection.) That being said, Cassel did have some pretty below average moments in the pre-season too.

[RayClay]

Originally Posted by MoLewisrocks

Mike Reiss...isn't he the guy who said the Patriots loved Matt Gutierrez and O'Connell's drafting was likely a sign they wanted to part company with Matt Cassel whom he predicted had played himself off the roster for fair in pre season...?

The people who struggle with this the most are those who were POSITIVE they had Cassel all figured out as a 7th round draft bust...LOL

Mike is a good reporter, or he was before he got married and started trying to earn a few more $$$ as a pundit on the local pre and post game shows...

It's an unfortunate pattern repeated here perpetually. I don't read Mike for opinion, ever.

I trust him more than the "rumor mill" sites. Actually, I think he's the fairest and best local reporter by far.

[RayClay]

Originally Posted by Box_O_Rocks

Very well, dualing punditry, speculative columns at twenty paces sir!

If you think they are equally consistent and knowledgeable about our local team, that is.

[MoLewisrocks]

Originally Posted by RayClay

I trust him more than the "rumor mill" sites. Actually, I think he's the fairest and best local reporter by far.

I think Mike is a good fact presenter. I don't think he's much of a prognosticator, nor do I think he's the classic insider. I think because he's been fair and was never abrasive he has been fed some data first, not insider secrets. I don't trust his capacity to read tea leaves even remotely.

[Leave No Doubt]

Mike's biggest plus is his news. He checks his sources and when he reports something you know it's true. His opinions though are another thing, especially this year. He predicted the Pats to lose like 3 times at least and was wrong each time. Then there was his QB choice.

He's still numero uno for reporting the news but I wouldn't live and die by his opinions and/or predictions.

[RayClay]

I know you never thought much of Reiss. Trouble is, if he's not an insider, no one is, because that organization does not leak.

You can tell when there is an injury. These scoop reporters are lucky if they can guess if it's an arm a leg or a skull, much less get accurate information.

I think most of these sites make up half their stories just to see if they can cause some news.

[Box_O_Rocks]

Originally Posted by RayClay

If you think they are equally consistent and knowledgeable about our local team, that is.

Ah, but the pundit cited wasn't discussing our local team, he was discussing industry speculation that 6-10 clubs not the New England Patriots would be taking a close look at Matt Cassel before Free Agency begins in March. I'll cheerfully yield to Reiss' local knowledge on local football news, on NFL-wide knowledge I'd hedge a bit towards the reporters at Pro Football Weekly (as opposed to ProFootballTalk). Just me I guess.

[Cartwright]

Originally Posted by tombonneau

If Cassel plays at the same level he has the last few weeks, absolutely a GM will offer him a huge contract. In fact, multiple GMs will. In case you haven't noticed, teams trotted out the following QBs to start the 2008 season:

JT O'Sullivan
Tavaris Jackson
Brodie Croyle
Kyle Orton
Marc Bulger
Derek Anderson
Trent Edwards
Chad Pennington
Troy Smith (or they would of, had he not had his tonsils removed ...)
Jon Kitna
Aaron Rodgers
Jeff Garcia

And these are pre-injury players who teams hitched their wagon to to start the season. Yes, some of them worked out (Orton, Edwards, Pennington, Rodgers, Garcia kind-of) but all of these were huge question marks at the start of the season and speaks to the serious lack of QB talent in the NFL.

Heck, one guy on this list (Derek Anderson) had one-half a good year, and his own team signed him to a huge extension at the end of the year after just drafting a wildly popular QB in the first round. And now they benched him in favor of the young guy and have a ton of money tied up in the QB spot!

So yes, a GM will roll the dice and pay Cassel big money and/or also pay franchise compensation.

It is naive to think that one 400 yard passing game has vaulted Cassell to a starting spot on any one of those teams who those QB's play for. Not to say that SOME of those teams will not come calling, but let's not annoint Matty as the second coming just yet.

[RayClay]

Originally Posted by Box_O_Rocks

Ah, but the pundit cited wasn't discussing our local team, he was discussing industry speculation that 6-10 clubs not the New England Patriots would be taking a close look at Matt Cassel before Free Agency begins in March. I'll cheerfully yield to Reiss' local knowledge on local football news, on NFL-wide knowledge I'd hedge a bit towards the reporters at Pro Football Weekly (as opposed to ProFootballTalk). Just me I guess.

It's a gossip column, nevertheless. The fact that it's not total sensationalism like PFT is faint praise. I'm sure some items are based on insiders tips as sure as others are just floated by the authors for the sake of causing conversation. It's a "who' hot, who's not" as much as anything else, with the emphasis on novelty and the likelihood that the "story" will change week to week.

I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that items involving reliable known quantities are far less likely to show up in these columns for obvious reasons.