Is O'Connell a go at #2 backup? Or do we need a solid vet QB?

[PATRIOT64]

While the Pats are spending some cash through FA,I think the next stop might be a backup or at least competition with O'Connell for the #2 QB spot

Personally I would like to have a vet who has taken hits and has won games over a 3rd rounder who may need a few seasons like Cassel to learn and develop - For O'Connell to have a season like Cassel did barring another catastrophy to Brady is not very good odds IMO

Brady hopefully is back 100% and ready to go for another whole, season unhurt but just in case deja vu happens .....

The question goes - Do we need to sign up Garcia,Leftwich or even GROSSman before we try and get Peppers and apparently end our FA venture? or are you confident that Kevin could be another Cassel should Brady suffer another injury?

I would like the team to go after Garcia as we all know Galloway is already here and knows Garcia quite well should he be thrused into action and I am sure Welker and Moss would be fine as well catching balls from him,so I think Jeff should be on the radar and have Kevin wait another season for the #2 spot.


Get Garcia signed up for insurance and then Peppers and a few nice draft picks another couple of weeks away and no one is catching this team in the AFC

 

[Joker]

For O'Connell to have a season like Cassel did barring another catastrophy to Brady is not very good odds IMO

you throw that out there without any reason why .....do you mean, in general, it's just bad odds? that would be fallacious...do you mean O'Connell is somehow LESS SKILLED than Cassel?...not if measurables are any indicator...or do you mean O'Connell is too inexperienced, in which case you may have a point...if Brady has another "catastrophE", it may well be time to play his eventual successor. By all indications, THIS is why O'Connell was drafted in the first place, an eventual heir to the king.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Garcia = West Coast Offense = bad fit.
They brought Ramsey in for a visit, maybe you'll get lucky.

 

[Feep50]

I have 0 interest in Garcia. I think O'Connell will be the #2 and should be. Isn't Huard floating around out there somewhere? He would be the perfect Vet QB backup.

 

[italian pat patriot]

imho he will be our n.2 qb

 

[KDPPatsfan85]

BB doesnt draft QB's that high!! KOC is our #2!!

 

[ausbacker]

BB doesnt draft QB's that high!! KOC is our #2!!

Indeed. KOC will be the number 2 on the depth chart.

 

[P4E*]

O' Connell should be the back-up QB. the guy has game. the pats did pick him up in the 3rd round and most had Kevin asa top 5 QB in that draft. i like him as our back-up.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

I have 0 interest in Garcia. I think O'Connell will be the #2 and should be. Isn't Huard floating around out there somewhere? He would be the perfect Vet QB backup.

Huard signed with the Niners.

 

[nashvillepatsfan]

O' Connell should be the back-up QB. the guy has game. the pats did pick him up in the 3rd round and most had Kevin asa top 5 QB in that draft. i like him as our back-up.

I admit, I know nothing about the guy, and never saw him play before last preseason. Which, by the way, wasnt impressive. He was a rookie though, and i'm sure he'll improve, but Cassel had been in the system for more than a year. IF (god forbid) Brady has another freak injury, Why is everyone so confident that Kevin will just come in, and be successful? The guy has game you say? Whats he done? I really feel like people are leaving QB off our list of needs, and that might be a mistake. I had confidence in Cassel last year, but thats because he had alot of experience in the system, and practice with Tom. Kevin has neither. Sure, i'll agree, he will probably be the number two this year. BUT, i'll feel alot better when I see who number three is, and if they have GAME experience.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Personally I would like to have a vet who has taken hits and has won games over a 3rd rounder who may need a few seasons like Cassel to learn and develop - For O'Connell to have a season like Cassel did barring another catastrophy to Brady is not very good odds IMO

Ummm . . . Brady was Bledsoe's #2 after one season in the offense as the #3. Cassel was Brady's #2 after one season in the offense as the #3 (although I'm guessing they had him on clipboard duty instead of Flutie). I see no reason to assume O'Connell won't be Brady's #2 this year after a season of clipboard duty for Cassel.

 

[MassPats38]

IF (god forbid) Brady has another freak injury, Why is everyone so confident that Kevin will just come in, and be successful? The guy has game you say? Whats he done? I really feel like people are leaving QB off our list of needs, and that might be a mistake.

The better question might be why does anyone think a random veteran QB is a better option than KOC, who spent a year with the system?

The veterans brought in were added as mentors and active QB coaches, namely Flutie and Testaverde, who both were at the end of their long careers and enjoyed some success as starting QBs during that time, not to take the reigns if Brady went down (the opportunities those two had tended to be symbolic and reflect Belichick's desire to let them reach career milestones). Brady was locked in and Cassel was a rookie. Gutierrez was then brought in as a rookie behind Cassel. Last year KOC was added as a rookie and now Cassel is gone.

The system has worked developmentally (see Cassel's story if you lack confidence in that conclusion) and Brady had a consecutive game streak dating back to 2001 before his injury, from which this is no evidence he will not be at his old form this season. KOC didn't look great in mop-ups, but then again Cassel got yanked after one series against the Dolphins in mop-up but somehow bounced back last year. What is the point of injecting a random veteran, none of whom I can think of have Flutie's or Testaverde's background, into a complex offense with which they have no experience in the unlikely event Brady suffers another cataclysmic injury? The only theory would seem to be that veteran QBs with statistics in another system throw to robot receivers and chemistry has no bearing on performance. That simply isn't the case, and that veteran QB would likely spend most of the season in practice developing chemistry in order to execute game plans when you already have QBs who have played with current receivers for a year or more.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

While the Pats are spending some cash through FA,I think the next stop might be a backup or at least competition with O'Connell for the #2 QB spot

Personally I would like to have a vet who has taken hits and has won games over a 3rd rounder who may need a few seasons like Cassel to learn and develop - For O'Connell to have a season like Cassel did barring another catastrophy to Brady is not very good odds IMO

Brady hopefully is back 100% and ready to go for another whole, season unhurt but just in case deja vu happens .....

The question goes - Do we need to sign up Garcia,Leftwich or even GROSSman before we try and get Peppers and apparently end our FA venture? or are you confident that Kevin could be another Cassel should Brady suffer another injury?

I would like the team to go after Garcia as we all know Galloway is already here and knows Garcia quite well should he be thrused into action and I am sure Welker and Moss would be fine as well catching balls from him,so I think Jeff should be on the radar and have Kevin wait another season for the #2 spot.


Get Garcia signed up for insurance and then Peppers and a few nice draft picks another couple of weeks away and no one is catching this team in the AFC

Besides apparently thinking cap money grows on trees...why do people continue this fascination with names they recognize even though they have never had any success in or exposure to a system like ours? Or in some cases any system... Do you learn nothing watching this system in action???

 

[tanked_as_usual]

Kevin O'connell is fine to be a #2.......

people should be more worried about OLB

 

[Feep50]

Huard signed with the Niners.

Ahhhhhhhh that's right he did..... Dern it... Thx CT

Well, that's OK O'Connell is a big strong kid with wheels, I'm fine with him as #2. However a BU QB would be a necessity if TB was to get injured again. Knock on wood!

 

[Jackson 2]

While the Pats are spending some cash through FA,I think the next stop might be a backup or at least competition with O'Connell for the #2 QB spot

Personally I would like to have a vet who has taken hits and has won games over a 3rd rounder who may need a few seasons like Cassel to learn and develop - For O'Connell to have a season like Cassel did barring another catastrophy to Brady is not very good odds IMO

Brady hopefully is back 100% and ready to go for another whole, season unhurt but just in case deja vu happens .....

The question goes - Do we need to sign up Garcia,Leftwich or even GROSSman before we try and get Peppers and apparently end our FA venture? or are you confident that Kevin could be another Cassel should Brady suffer another injury?

I would like the team to go after Garcia as we all know Galloway is already here and knows Garcia quite well should he be thrused into action and I am sure Welker and Moss would be fine as well catching balls from him,so I think Jeff should be on the radar and have Kevin wait another season for the #2 spot.


Get Garcia signed up for insurance and then Peppers and a few nice draft picks another couple of weeks away and no one is catching this team in the AFC

Deja Vu all over again. It's O'Connell, particularly today, but every other day, as well IMO.

 

[shmessy]

In answer to the thread title: Both.

O'Connell as #2 with a Patrick Ramsey or a Brad Johnson signing on a #3 for vet minimum.

 

[Synovia]

For O'Connell to have a season like Cassel did barring another catastrophy to Brady is not very good odds IMO

you throw that out there without any reason why .....do you mean, in general, it's just bad odds? that would be fallacious...do you mean O'Connell is somehow LESS SKILLED than Cassel?...not if measurables are any indicator...or do you mean O'Connell is too inexperienced, in which case you may have a point...if Brady has another "catastrophE", it may well be time to play his eventual successor. .

Its simple: The VAST MAJORITY of QBs taken outside the top 15 picks of the first round are abject failures. Theres no indication that O'Connel will ever be able to play at an NFL level, despite the fact that Cassel can.


Cassel's success does not guarantee O'Connel's success. It does not even mean that O'Connel has a better chance of success. Unless they're all a product of the system, the two are simply unrelated.

 

[DaBruinz]

I have 0 interest in Garcia. I think O'Connell will be the #2 and should be. Isn't Huard floating around out there somewhere? He would be the perfect Vet QB backup.

Huard signed with the 49ers unfortunately. I had been hoping that the Pats would sign him as he'd be a fantastic #3 to have. He's a great teacher and is very good at simulating other quarterbacks... Especially those named Manning.

I could see the Pats bringing in a veteran QB. However, this will be Gutierrez's 3rd camp and O'Connell's 2nd. And the fact that the Pats didn't bring in a veteran last year says to me that they have a lot of confidence in O'Connell.

As for whether Garcia is a fit, I think that the Pats have a lot of flexibility in their offense because of the read/react nature of it. So I wouldn't necessarily rule him out. But I think that someone like a Ramsey would be a better fit.

 

[Synovia]

And the fact that the Pats didn't bring in a veteran last year says to me that they have a lot of confidence in O'Connell.

Or that they don't have a lot of confidence in a vet with half a year in the offense being able to handle things any better than a rookie.

Theres a good chance a highly drafted rookie has better physical skills than a journeyman vet, and if either one of them is going to have problems with the offense, the rookie may be the better option. Plus, playing the rookie helps in the long term, because you'll have more idea of what he is, and what hes worth.