A lot of good insights in this thread. It really makes anything I might have added in a separate thread redundant. Still I have a couple of thoughts. I missed the first quarter (a long line at the Friendly's), but I was left with the following impressions.
1. I feel a lot better about the back up QB situation. Hoyer's effort was the best, most poised, and controlled back up effort we have had in years. Even though Cassell was a revelation during the 2008 regular season, he sucked during the preseason.
He was poised under pressure, and when he felt the heat, he threw it to the right guy. What NOW apparent to us all, was clear to BB, and the reason we haven't seen a vet QB brought in. Zack however DID look horrible.
2. I haven't seen his name mentioned, but I thought Kyle Arrington played a very solid game in limited action, and is going to make any decisions about how many CBs to keep very hard.
3. With the obvious emergence of Tate and Edelman, Welker's amazing recovery, plus the potential of Price clearly evident, Torry Holt is now firmly on the bubble. I was a big fan of the Holt signing and saw him playing a key part in the offense. Now I have to wonder if the Pats would keep him as the #6 guy, especially when he brings no ST's play to the table.
4. The news about Warren and Kazcur is horrible. Yeah I know Warren and Connolly looked like we can replace them without a sweat, but the fact is that TWarren is one of the most solid 3-4 DE's in the league, and will not easily be replaced, and if he has to be, it will severely impact our depth. The same can be said of Kazcur. This guy was a starting OLman in the NFL. He can be replaced, but again, our depth is affected.
5. Andre Murrell, with one preseason sack has now had a more productive carreer than his former teammated Vernon Gholston. He might still not make the final roster, but that is great irony
Ken,
I have almost never disagreed with you, but you are in a tiny error with regard to Cassell's 4th preseason, when every un-knowledgable fan was calling for his head.
It was noticeable that none of the in-the-know Coaches were doing so. By his 4th preseason, Cassell had demonstrated he knew the mechanics of QB, and he had the thorough knowledge of the playbook.
But Belichick knew that there was a phase of football Cassell had never faced in college or the pros. He hadn't faced the problems of dealing with circumstances, specifically on the field, beyond his control.
So BB arranged to force such a test and see if Cassell could handle that kind of pressure without losing his POISE. He created a series of tests much like JOB faced in the bible. All manor of privations were placed on Cassell. First class receivers sat down when he came in. The weakest offensive line played in front of him. Inept RBs were his running game. In short, Belichick was testing Cassell to see if he would hold up under such artificially arranged pressures, and see if he would start complaining about fairness.
You ask why Belichick did it? Because Belichick realized he had a potential hidden gem and was worth it. A QB with perfect triangle numbers, a rocket arm, intelligence and selfless team spirit to hang in when he lost out to not one but two Heismann Trophy winners. He was recruited and well coached by a big time college team with ex-pro coaches. He had it all, and athletically Cassell could have been a Number 1 pick in the draft, had he played instead of the other SC QBs, and gotten the headlines. Super Bowl contenders don't get to draft such players; 4-12 teams do.
It was presumably because Cassell had the team spirit and discipline to accept sitting rather than the easy transfer, when he lost out on playing, but he never had the real experience of playing. You have evidence of how the conventional experienced QB reacted in such situations, but Cassell had no such revealing experiential evidence to judge what he would do. Would he come apart under the pressure?
In real life sometimes your best RB gets injured and you have to adapt. Sometimes your O line doesn't have the talent. Sometimes you great receiver goes down in your last game before the Playoffs. Do you rail and throw them under the bus or stoically accept, as Brady did; and try to work with what you have?
Cassell passed with flying colors. Even with the stacked deck, he just went out and played while the Mediots pontificated on how "bad" he was; and the fans howled for him to be cut. He never uttered a peep about how "unfair" it all was.
Belichick knew then, he had a talent capable of leading his team to double digit wins, and a potential Brady successor in 4-5 years if and when called on, for essentially a minimal and very keep-able cost.
Well Brady went down in 2008, Cassell came in and played to a 11-5 record, and was than priced out of keeping. So the Montana & Young history of double HOF QBs extending the dynasty, was not going to be repeated on the Patriots.
Brian Hoyer is a similar but different kettle of fish. First of all, he does not possess the perfect triangle numbers, nor a truly rocket arm. But both fit at the lower end of the starting and winning NFL QB talent. He is bigger than Brees; and his arm is probably better than Sanchize, Lienart, today's Favre, Schaub, Orton, and Hasselback, to name a few, including a couple of SB winners. He didn't sit in a big time college school, but revealingly played for a perennial out-manned loser in the Big Ten; and frequently took his lumps but gamely tried to compete with an under-manned Michigan State team, nonetheless. Hoyer had to learn POISE to survive, and he did.
Unlike Cassel, who the scouts never saw, and ignored, Hoyer was downgraded because of Michigan State's losing. Still a few scouts picked up on his POISE.
Since I beleive 90% of a QBs play is conducted not on the gridiron, but between his ears, that made me interested in Hoyer and I hoped the Pats would bring him in as a low draft pick, like Brady and Cassell before him. Instead they got him even cheaper. He is developing splendedly. He was an off-season award winner, and is just bigger now and his arm appears somewhat stronger. Even as rook he could manage to throw the all-important out, but it now seems easier, with a little more velocity and less windup.
