Early guess: who's after O'Connell on the depth chart?

[RayClay]

The stats are just a mirage though, as many of us who watched the game took great pains to tell people. We weren't coaches, yet we figured it out. I'm not tooting my horn on this because I didn't say much about Gut for my own reasons, but to say there was no evidence of it is simply incorrect. You may not have seen that evidence You may have seen that evidence and dismissed it as not being valid. However, it was clearly there enough in the minds of some that those people commented about it.

Look, I watched every game. I realize Gutz played against backups, but he looked fine and had good command and some fire.

Cassel looked sluggish and basically played like dog**** at times. Of course i could say, "I knew he was going to be great and play like an All Pro when it counts", but I'm not like that.

The biggest evidence Cassel would be all right was the fact they've stayed with him and groomed him for years.

If you knew it all along, good for you. If you say that, based on his performance last preseason alone, you knew he'd be great, you're full of it, plain and simple.

 

[patchick]

Thanks for posting these stats....very interesting.
I would think it would come down to who as a QB knows the system the BEST, much like the situation with Cassel. Hoyer, Edelman etc....don't know the system yet AT ALL......Okee is still learning it.......Gutz has been in it for a little longer......

With BB, that hasn't been the predictable pattern for choosing backup QBs at all. Brady, Davey, Cassel, O'Connell...none were really "knows the system best" candidates when they first slid into the backup spot. If Hoyer's better than Gutierrez, I'd expect Hoyer to get the job.

(Regardless, the comfort the team seems to be showing with O'Connell as #2 is very encouraging.)

 

[RayClay]

With BB, that hasn't been the predictable pattern for choosing backup QBs at all. Brady, Davey, Cassel, O'Connell...none were really "knows the system best" candidates when they first slid into the backup spot. If Hoyer's better than Gutierrez, I'd expect Hoyer to get the job.

(Regardless, the comfort the team seems to be showing with O'Connell as #2 is very encouraging.)

I agree. I was more talking of an emergency situation.

 

[Deus Irae]

Look, I watched every game. I realize Gutz played against backups, but he looked fine and had good command and some fire.

Cassel looked sluggish and basically played like dog**** at times. Of course i could say, "I knew he was going to be great and play like an All Pro when it counts", but I'm not like that.

The biggest evidence Cassel would be all right was the fact they've stayed with him and groomed him for years.

If you knew it all along, good for you. If you say that, based on his performance last preseason alone, you knew he'd be great, you're full of it, plain and simple.

I'm not going to get into it with you over a guy who might very well not make the team if Hoyer shows any promise at all. Some of us saw Gut the way you did, and some of us saw Gut differently. The evidence is there. The question is who's interpreting that evidence correctly. The same is true of Cassel and the dichotomy. It's just the reality of the situation.

As for what I'm full of, all I can tell you is to look at my sig. That's been there since the day that person made the comment, so it's not as if I jumped late to the party, and others can attest that I was defending Cassel during the exhibition games before cuts were made.

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/messageboard/10/108762-why-cassel.html#post993418

It should also be noted that I've not called Cassel "great" to the best of my recollection, and I have always tempered my opinion of him with the knowledge of the great offense he had around him. He's got talent and a good mind for the system. Whether he'll ever become "great" now that he's moved on to another team is a question for the future to answer.


P.S. I've posted before telling that person that I'd take the sig down if he wishes it and considers the debate over in favor of Cassel, but he's never responded. That offer still stands.