SI: How Cassel became a Patriot
 

Hope it's not a repost.
A trusted scout persuaded the Patriots to take a chance on - 09.22.08 - SI Vault

re: SI: How Cassel became a Patriot
 

Great find. I hadn't seen that. I heard about the workout performance but figures we had a leg up even before that. Imagine Chow's disappointment. Everyone figured it was Leinart he wanted over Young. Turns out he had an even better fallback plan only we had a FO that listens...

re: SI: How Cassel became a Patriot
 

thanks for the post and the link. I half expected one more story about MC's kindergarden days and was glad that this wasn't. :)

Re: SI: How Cassel became a Patriot
 

Nice story indeed, an interesting peek behind the curtain at the scouting process.

(I took the liberty of changing the thread title to reflect that. Everybody, the more specific your thread title, the more people will read it!)

Re: SI: How Cassel became a Patriot
 

Thanks for posting. It gets me thinking that if Cassel would've beat out Leinart, how things might have worked out. From the several articles I have read in the past few weeks, they all point out how tight the competition between the two actually was and Cassel didn't even think he was given a fair shake. The more I read, the more inclined I am to think that Cassel will have a strong year and end up starting somewhere else next year. With the situation in Tennessee, I wonder if they'd be interested in him if Vince Young continues to struggle with mental health issues.

Re: SI: How Cassel became a Patriot
 

Great article. We'll see how good he is in the next games because it's too early to call.

Re: SI: How Cassel became a Patriot
 

No problem. I'm just glad I could contribute something.

Re: SI: How Cassel became a Patriot
 

great story thanks for the link

Re: SI: How Cassel became a Patriot
 

Good find, I had heard that Chow really coveted Cassel!

I know how frustrated I get in my fantasy league when I wait too long to draft a player, and that's just for fun. So I can imagine what some GMs must go through when another team blows up their scheme.

Look how many teams have taken QB after QB in the draft, never to have any of them materialize? And the Pats might be able to catch lightning in a bottle twice?

Leave it to Bill and Scott.

Re: SI: How Cassel became a Patriot
 

"As a scout with New England, you're lucky because Scott and Bill listen to you."

Leading up to the 2005 draft, the Patriots were typically closemouthed about their interest in Cassel. Tennessee, as it turned out, badly wanted Cassel, and Chow, the Titans' new offensive coordinator at the time, said he was stunned when he saw New England take him with the 230th pick. "It's funny," said Russell. "The Pats get knocked for being so secretive. But being quiet really paid off. No one knew we'd draft him."

^awesome