Yes, Cassel in his fourth Training Camp was ahead of where O'Connell in his second is now. Further, Cassel did practice at a higher level in college, that said, O'Connell brings more game experience from college.
-- O'Con is still learning to read defenses - look how long it took Cassel once he was starting.
-- there was no game plan last night designed around O'Connell's strengths and away from his weaknesses.
-- NE was still testing out ideas and combinations of players to evaluate them.
-- O'Con had no Faulk, no Welker, very little time in camp with Watson, his front line was changing on him, and he was playing against a team that was playing for pride - even in preseason.
When all is said an done, O'Con did okay. BB may decide to keep Walter, it's a close call, but without BB's expert knowledge, my own inclination would be to go for depth elsewhere.