The drafting of Matt Cassel

[Seneschal2]

An interesting piece by Projo's Shalise Manza Young on the behind-the-scenes process in selecting Cassel:

Patriots’ Pioli already thinking about next year’s draft

Excerpts from Pioli:

“Russell [scout] was out there, and I was getting ready to go to USC during our West Coast trip, and whenever I go to schools I always call the area scout and the regional scout and get an idea of what I need to look at and he went through the roster and he said there’s a backup quarterback, he was a hotshot coming out of high school, he’s been behind Carson, he’s been behind Leinart, you know, he’s a really interesting guy. He has great tools, strong arm, really good athlete, you should take a look at him.”

“So [Russell] calls me after the Pro Day and is like, ‘You know, this guy really threw the ball well. He lit it up; he was on.’ And we ended up getting more tape — we get practice tape, we’ve got the 36 passes he threw in his four years,” Pioli says with a chuckle.

 

[Schmo]

This is the exciting side to Cassel. He could be at the beginnings of his potential... or the end. That is why we see so many contrasting posts about him.
IMHO he is going to get better this year. Period.

 

[Pat the Pats Fan]

I loved this line.....

Pioli heard later that Chow was “blown away” that someone had drafted Cassel. Not because he wasn’t good, but because he figured he had the inside scoop.

 

[WTE]

How ironic that Cassel is starting this weekend and Leinert is not.

Cassel seems to really enjoy playing football and studying game film. He has his priorities straight whereas Leinert does not.

Right now it appears Cassel will have a better NFL career than Leinert.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

How ironic that Cassel is starting this weekend and Leinert is not.

Cassel seems to really enjoy playing football and studying game film. He has his priorities straight whereas Leinert does not.

Right now it appears Cassel will have a better NFL career than Leinert.

How funny would it be if Warner retires and the Cardinals bring in Cassel to be a starter?

 

[TheGodInAGreyHoodie]

In some ways being a backup QB is a harder job (or at least has a different set of skills) than being a starter.

It takes a lot of work to learn a game plan. Particularly if you only get to watch the practice not participate in it. It also takes a lot more personal motivation to want to learn a game plan when there is only a 1% or 2% chance you will be actually executing it than if you are the name starter.

I am not surprised the Patriots drafted for the role of backup QB someone who proved that they can be both a quality QB and a conscientious back up QB

 

[WhiZa]

How ironic that Cassel is starting this weekend and Leinert is not.

Cassel seems to really enjoy playing football and studying game film. He has his priorities straight whereas Leinert does not.

Right now it appears Cassel will have a better NFL career than Leinert.

Neither is Carson Palmer, but not because he got beat out by a 37 y/o semi-retired QB.

 

[woolster22]

Hasn't Cassel completed somewhere around 65% of his passes. Got to give him some credit for that...

 

[JoeShmoe]

Guys never had a chance .. now he has. Give him at least 4-5 games and we'll see where he is

Personally I think he's gonna make a lot of chicken littles eat crow and you know what, that will be fun

 

[borg]

Having only seen 3 of the Pats 4 games, I keep making the same observation with regards to Cassel. He just doesn't seem to drop back far enough on pass plays. Either the OLine is getting blown backwards and his depth in the pocket gets skewed, or he just becomes too nervous and wants the play get going before he gets set. Hopefully, the game will slow down in his brain.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Having only seen 3 of the Pats 4 games, I keep making the same observation with regards to Cassel. He just doesn't seem to drop back far enough on pass plays. Either the OLine is getting blown backwards and his depth in the pocket gets skewed, or he just becomes too nervous and wants the play get going before he gets set. Hopefully, the game will slow down in his brain.

Well, let's not forget that his first pass as the Pats' starter was a deep pass to Moss while standing in his own friggin' EZ.