Something I'm still trying to understand
 

I'm watching Mike and Mike on the Duece this morning (part of mine and Zod Jr.'s morning routine), and they're talking about the differences between Aaron Rodgers and Cassel.

Now, I realize that Greenberg is a complete and total Jets loving tool, and the next time he has a clue will be the first time, but I usually place a lot more stock in what Golic says, especially when they talk about football.

This morning, the storyline was once again how Rodgers was a starter in college and Cassel was a backup (granted, he was backing up Matt Leinart in the country's premiere program and running a pro-style offense). Here's where this starts to bother me-

Cassel was recruited by USC. USC isn't going to recruit Joe Blow from Unity HS in Maine. We don't know what he did in HS, but you have to figure he was a pretty damn good ball player.

Should Cassel be faulted for electing to stay at USC and play behind Leinart rather then transfer to some putz school and run the option? Let's say he goes to a Division II school and dominates, running a college offense...where is that going to land him in the draft?

The one thing I would have been willing to give here in this comparison is the one thing that WASN'T brought up- Green Bay went into training camp KNOWING that Rodgers was there guy. They were able to spend that time building the offense around him. That's a big plus. Obviously, the Pats went into training camp hoping that the only time Cassel would see the field was in garbage time.

I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but haven't the Pats had pretty good success prior to this year with a guy who split playing time and backed up a big name guy at a big time program?

Re: Something I'm still trying to understand
 

Green Bay is not on our schedule this year. They must be grasping for straws to talk about.

Re: Something I'm still trying to understand
 

Matt Cassel hasn't started a regular season game since 1999. Some people think that playing games actually helps improve one's skill set.

Cassel backed up Heisman trophy winners at USC (with Chow as coach) and Brady in the NFL. I would argue that he may be qualified to be the Assistant Quarterback Coach.

He MAY do fine at QB. But he hasn't actually played the position since High School.

Re: Something I'm still trying to understand
 

Rodgers was a starter in college and a number 1 pick so there is some merit to it.
But, none of us really know what to expect. We may think we do but until the guy has started some games on the road, in noisy, hostile environments, all we can do is speculate.
This is why the Jets game is so perfect. Farve first game in New York, heated division rivalry, and a full week to prepare for the Jets.
This weeks game will tell us quite a bit about Mr Cassel.

Re: Something I'm still trying to understand
 

Yes, this is a test for Cassel. We've played one of the bottom 5 teams in football. Now we are playing a team in 6-10 range. The jets really aren't very good.

Re: Something I'm still trying to understand
 

Being a starter in college and first round pick really doesn't mean much.

Ryan Leaf was a #1 pick.

Heath Shuler was a #1 pick.

Todd Marinovich was a #1 pick.

Patrick Ramsey was a #1 pick.

Andre Ware was a #1 pick.

Akili Smith was a #1 pick.

David Klingler was a #1 pick.

...I can keep going with this, but I think you get my point.

Re: Something I'm still trying to understand
 

You can keep going, but this is not much of a barometer.. a better comparison is trying to find a site that details QB's who did not play during college, but now play successfully in the NFL... otoh think BB would do something different if he did not think Cassell could do the job..

Re: Something I'm still trying to understand
 

I think that's right, but I think all Cassel starting means is that BB thinks he is a better option than any other available option right now. BB says he views his job as picking the option that gives the best team to win. But we really don't know anything about his math.

If he feels Cassel gives him a 20 percent chance, while Simms a 19 percent chance, then he'll go with Cassel. (Using silly numbers to make the point.) But I read this board and everyone seems to be of the opinion that BB is expressing some massive confidence in Cassel so he must be good. Maybe. Or maybe BB just thinks the alternatives stink much worse.

I'm interested to see how Cassel does and I hope it's great. But he's as unproven as can be. Bottom line to me, all this talk about Cassel is sort of besides the point. Defense and turnovers will, like 80 percent of the games in the national parity league, decide this game. If the defense can hold the Jets in the 40 percent range on 3d down conversions, and if we can win or tie in the takeaway department, we will probably win.

Re: Something I'm still trying to understand
 

So, I suggest that we trade away all of our first day picks and plan to get our starters from the late rounds and from UDFA's.

Rogers is MORE likely to succeed because he was judged a first rounder than someone who is a 7th round pick. Of course, you can present the argument of how stupid all the other GM's are and how much Cassel has shown himself to be as good a prospect as the first and second rounders by virtue of him sitting on the bench for three years for the patriots. He already did that for 4 years under one pf the best QB coaches ever.

Re: Something I'm still trying to understand
 

I agree, but with your initial statement you miss the entire point of my list. The poster I responded to says the difference between Cassel and Rodgers is that Rodgers was a starter and a #1 pick. The point of my list was to show just how little that means. Brady played behind Drew henson, who, had he elected to play football straight out of college, would have been a #1 pick as well. The leap from the NCAA to the NFL is huge, and it takes a lot more then athletic ability to make it. I'm betting there were fans in 2000 that were wondering why BB was hanging on to a 6th round pick at backup QB rather then looking for Bledsoe's successor. The jury is still out on Rodgers, as far as I'm concerned. The Vikings have had a LOUSY pass defense the last couple years.