Matt Cassell -- My Assessment
 

I've posted at some length about Cassell before in some no doubt long forgotten threads. Given the latest developments, however, I'll try to repeat my thoughts.

I think Matt Cassell has a better than average opportunity to succeed as a starting QB in the NFL. I think, therefore, he represents a much lower risk than nearly any pick that is taken in the draft.

Cassell's season with the Patriots last year showed much about him. It was really a tale of two seasons -- the early part, when he more or less stunk, and the latter part when he came into his own, the coaches and team played to his strengths and stayed away from his weaknesses, and the game clearly slowed down for him and he became more confident and capable in his position and play.

The GOOD:

1. Cassell CLEARLY has all the physical skills. He is big, tall, strong and tough. He takes a wallop and gets right back up. He has the arm strength to throw all the passes -- the deep out or the deep ball. He is reasonably shifty in the pocket (but note pocket presence/timing below) and has good speed in running out of the pocket. There is no physical limitation in his game.

2. Cassell appears to have good leadership skills. Everything I saw/read about Cassell suggests a mature and intelligent individual to whom the team responded. A veteran team, the Patriots players could have folded their tent on him, but he appeared to get the team to buy into him -- both coaches and other players.

3. He isn't a rookie. You may not appreciate this much, but rookies, whether QBs or any other NFL position players, take a hell of a lot of time to understand what the NFL is all about. It's relatively rare for players to have tremendous impact in their first years for precisely this reason. He not only isn't a rookie, but he has been well coached and has seen the best in the game conduct his business.

4. Patience/coachability. He clearly is very coachable. His tremendous improvement as 2008 went along is evidence of that, as well as all the statements made by the Patriots coaches and other players. He also took a beating early in the season, which was partly his fault and partly the fault of the OLine, but continued to progress and elevate his game.


The BAD:

1. He had no touch on the long ball. None. Whenever he went deep to Moss or anyone else, whether they were open or not, they were completely incapable of hooking up. I imagine that was a timing thing as much as anything, and it may be that having a full training camp/preseason to work on this will help tremendously, but I can't tell you how aggravating it was to see Moss 5 yards behind the entire defense running free and to have the ball overthrown, or whatever. It happened time and time again.

2. Timing/pocket presence. Although it got better as the year went along, Cassell took far too many sacks, held the ball too long, and didn't seem to have a good feel for the pocket. Note that this DID get better as teh year went along, and my main source of comparison was Tom Brady, who has about the best pocket presence since Dan Marino, so I may be a bit unreasonable here.

3. Needs the shotgun. As a result of item 2, above, the Patriots starting putting Cassell into the shotgun. ALOT. A whole lot. That definitely helped him quite a bit in terms of seeing/processing the field of play, making quicker decisions, avoiding sacks, etc., but the shotgun also limits the offensive playcalling a fair bit.


In summary, I think he has a better than average chance to be a high quality NFL starting QB. His ceiling is not yet determined, but I think it is quite high.

So basically he is Tyler Thigpen.

I was waiting for this post. Thanks.

Finally a post from a non-troll Patriot fan. Thanks Ammorix.

ROFL

+3 inches
+ an accurate arm
- lousy attitude

As always, thanks Amnorix!

Im not defending Thigpen and Im not mad about the Cassell trade, but when did Thiggy have a lousy attitude?

heh, i hope people dont take this the wrong way, but he sounds kind of similiar to Elvis Grbac circa 1997.

But can he catch the deep pass as well as TT?

thanks for your input. always glad to read it. ALWAYS

Does sound a lot like Thigpen.

Another thing that I haven't seen mention: Josh McDaniels knows this guy better than anyone, and will know how to attack his weaknesses. May not mean much, but...

He reminds me a lot of Grbac in many ways.

Except his attitude appears to be the exact opposite.

Just watch Cassel's highlight reel. You'll see how much more accurate he is. He's a major upgrade over Thigpen. Tyler was ****ing terrible.

As soon as he started doing skeletons from the rear.

He is quite accurate. The result of alot of pass plays during the year was Cassell either throwing sideways, or throwing straight in front of him to someone on a crossing route, whether it was Faulk or Welker in the gap between the LBs and DBs, or a Moss or Welker doing a deeper in cut.

That speaks to his ability to see the entire field. We'll see how that comes along. It seemed to imrpove over the course of the season, but his excellent accuracy in the short/mid range throws was a saving grace.

Tyler Thigpen v.2

But but but a QB MUST be able to operate out of the "traditional" offense to be successful in the NFL :rolleyes:

I just want you to know that I don't have any hair on my testicles.

This alone makes him a completely different quarterback when compared to Thigpen.

End of discussion.

To be honest, I should have put accuracy as another strength. He is definitely very accurate in the short and mid range throws.

The long bombs -- ugh.

Both 7th rounders. Both big strong armed guys, had all the tools. Lets hope Cassel has a better head.

LMAO

Heh. These complaints are every complaint for any QB that doesn't win the SB. You want a breakdown of Elway, Montana, Bradshaw, Aikman, and Marino's deficiencies? There's a laundry list. It's not about, "I see this, I see that." Hell, the coaches are on edge with every playcall and pass with the Johnny Unitases of the world.

Hey, can Cassell help it if Moss doesn't run fast enough to catch up to the ball???


:):)

Which is funny because in that highlight reel the first play was the long bomb to Moss.

I noticed he had a 63% completion percentage. Very good for a first year starter.

I watched him throw some decent posts. Of course the highlight reel didn't show all the misses and I'm confident you saw about 12 games more than I did last year so I'll defer to you. But the deep throws I did watch him make gave me a 4 hour boner compared to what I saw from Tyler ****ing Thigpen last year. And I'm pretty sure I saw about 15 more games of him than you did.

I figured you could add that to your sig. Circle of life and all.

To be honest, accuracy is perhaps THE most important trait for a modern NFL QB.

Pennington has made an entire career on it and it alone for chrissakes.

Cassell has very good accuracy, and good instincts. Not alot of stupid decisions.

Heck -- good decision-making should have been another strength.

The question isn't whether his decisions are GOOD, ti's whether they are made FAST enough. They had to go to alot of shotgun to help him process the field faster. By later in the season, he was processing his options much faster, but still not fast enough.

Then again, I have Tom frickin' Brady as my baseline, so maybe I just don't have a fair frame of reference.

This is not completely accurate or fair. What opposing teams did was double Moss on almost every play and leave the other receivers in one-on-one situations. It's true that Cassel had difficulties getting it to Moss against those double teams, but to say they were incapable of hooking up is just false. From the very first game, where he hit the long pass against the Chiefs, to the game against the Chargers where Moss should have have multiple bombs but failed to make the plays, to the pass that hit Gaffney right in the hands and was dropped against the Colts, Cassel showed he has the ability to make the throw. He definitely needs to get better at it, but he was clearly not 'incapable'.

Shhh! Now Hamas will come and tell you that he doesnt have a strong arm.

so he's a black Thigpen?

I doubt that'll be an issue here. I mean, I think the normal response for any KC QB when they see one of our receivers 5 yards behind anybody is shock and disbelief, followed by a fainting spell.

Deep OUTS were fine.

Teh bomb to teh guy behind the defense missed time and again. He must have missed Moss at least 5 times when Moss was open behind the defense. It was a theme, and a very aggravating one.

Then again, your WR corps might never get open behind the defense as currently constituted, so it might be less of a problem for you guys. :p :D

(sorry, couldn't resist)

I like your post better. Sorry Amnorix.

if cassel is that much taller than thiggy, he should be able to learn to view the game from under center. i'm not so sure mr. amnorix meant we were stuck in the spread with this qb, as much as he was just stating he's still learning. correct me if i'm wrong, but i just think thigpen had reached his potential (and that involved the spread), while cassel will continue to improve his game.

This should give Tony G and Bowe instant hard ons.

LOL. You beat me by this much (holds fingers an inch apart).

Also note that it's not arm strength that was a problem -- OVERthrowing Randy fricking Moss is pretty damn impressive. It was timing/accuracy. And a full offseason of working on it might help tremendously.

LMAO

I hope that changes though with an offensive guru as our head coach

Thanks for the input Amnorix

How about his footwork, Amno?

I watched quite a few Patriots games last year because Cassel was my starting fantasy QB. I thought he threw the deep ball pretty well for not having training camp to establish timing. You saw him improve his deep ball at the end of the year because of the time he had to gel with the first string in my opinion.

What I like most about Cassel (other than his athleticism) is his velocity on the ball. He throws a very catchable ball, and can fit it in to covered areas. I didn't see this type of velocity that Cassel displayed from Thigpen last season.

I didn't say he couldn't hit Moss, or that he wasn't able to hook up with him, but if you saw all teh Pats games, how many times did he overthrow/underthrow/miss Moss very deep? It was often. More often than we saw with Brady.

Of course, that's a hard play to make for any QB/WR, but it was painful top watch sometimes. Usually when he hit Moss it was on a crossing route or in/out cut.

Here's my assessment . . .
Cassel >>>>>>>>>>>> Thigpen/unproven and highly paid rookie. You have to think about the advantage it gives us w/ our first pick in getting Cassel, now we for sure get a piece that will help us immediately - whether a LB, another weapon for Cassel, DE, whatever it might be. Cassel fills two huge needs because we get a winning QB w/ experience and we keep our 1st rounder.

I feel all QB's have weaknesses, and Cassel is no exception. My question will be is this guy dedicated to his craft? Will he spend long hours in the film room studying defenses, will he be working tirelessly to improve himself and work with Haley to learn the intricacies of the offense, stay the extra time to work with his receivers on his timing, etc, or is he going to be content with his big contract and fall apart like we see so many other QB's do after a big year?

I'm guessing Pioli knows the guy well enough to make that judgment, but I guess time will tell...

What jersey # will he settle for? I say #12

It will be interesting to see what they do at WR.... Bowe and Gonzo are very nice, but I think KC needs to make a splash or two at WR if the Cassell experiment is going to pay off. I think he's a good QB, but if they don't beef up at WR... the trade is kinda pointless.

I never really watch footwork. Seemed fine to me based on his overall accuracy. He didn't get happy feet, or flee the pocket too quickly, in my opinion, so overall I think it was fine.

He seemed to have good mechanics to me.

They need to beef up the O-line before they worry about WR's.

When he said he's earned a shot at the starting QB job.

OLine. The QB needs TIME and to not get killed.

WRs just need to not suck.

Thats a lousy attitude? :spock: Sounds like a young man showing confidence in his skills to me...

As someone said earlier, #16 is retired. Cassel was #10 in college. If he can preform like the last QB wearing #10 did in KC, we should all be fairly happy.

Devard Darling to flourish!

That's my only ? mark about Cassel. With our OL I'm afraid he might get killed.

The one bright spot about Thigpen was sometimes he was hard to catch.

I was thinking the same thing. I never heard anything about a lousy attitude until that post.

LMAO

I saw every game. And, as I said, he needs to improve on the deep ball. However, it wasn't nearly as bad as you seemed to be implying it was. If I inferred incorrectly, my apologies.

I think most fans were pretty sour on the idea of Thigpen saying he rightfully earned the starting QB spot in 2009. While Thigpen came in and did some good things, the bottom line is that the win-loss record didn't show it, and his INT's were starting to become very troublesome...all the way through his last game of the 08' season.

He'll have to steal it away from our current 3rd string made of glass QB

He better peform like the guy who wore #16 here instead of the one who wore #10.

The Chiefs need to get one more threat at WR.

Just one.

I think Bradley could do a fine job in the slot with Franklin as the 4.

If they stay at 3, take Curry.

If they trade down, explore what WRs are available.

LB, WR, OL are the 3 biggest weaknesses on this team now with them shifting to a 3-4.

By the way... I think the acquisition of Cassell was a solid move.

Yeah, Trent Green sucked. :rolleyes:

I guess the only question I have for Amnorix and the rest of the Pats fans is this - are you pissed that's he's not on your team anymore?

Yeah, because leading the best offense in football totally sucked. :rolleyes:

Seriously, if you don't appreciate what Trent Green did for the Chiefs, you're dumber than a box of shit.

IT'S NOT TRENT GREEN'S FAULT THAT WE DIDN'T HAVE A DEFENSE.

Not likely.

If we'd just won 3 and been in 4 SB's in the last decade would we care if we traded off our b/u QB and an old LB?...

Bradley isn't quick enough to work in the slot.

If you really want to build this team around Cassel, you need to find a way to get a team like SF or Jax to trade up for a QB, and take a guy like Maclin or DHB.

You got it :)

Ammorix,

I could see you and I sitting down for a nice bowl of "chowda" and downing several Sam Adams.

Thanks for the info.....

If Curry is gone, you take Crabby at 3 or try and trade down and still take Maclin (totally biased on that one).....

Good thread.

Here's where a lot of people go wrong with Cassel: he was never a scrub UFA who barely got recruited out of HS and ended up playing for Louisiana Tech. He was a decent prospect, described by Tom Lemming to be a "pro-style pocket passer with a very strong, accurate delivery." He was recruited by elite college programs, finally choosing one of the best - USC. There, he had the misfortune of playing at the same time as not one but TWO Heisman winners and top 10 draft picks. Come his pro day, he performed brilliantly and got himself on many team's draft boards. And the rest is history.

Look, I've got my doubts, I've got my concerns, but one thing I'm not worried about is natural talent. He's a 6'5", 230lber with a good arm, decent mobility and, apparently, a good head on his shoulders.

Let's see what happens.

My assessment is the same as every year; Give me a proven NFL QB over a chance on a rookie any day.

AND we still have our #3 overall pick!

HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!

:shrug: Agree to disagree. I don't know how many passes he had that were 30+ yards in the air, but it didn't seem to be that many. And it often wasn't for lack of opportunity.

"Pissed" No. We have Tom Brady and if he's about 85+% of what he normally is in 2009 and back to about 100% by 2010, then it's the obvious move to trade away the hopefully unnecessary backup for a high draft pick.

Also, we couldn't carry him. It's our bad luck that he was going into his contract year, which forced us to franchise him and do the tag-and-trade bit. I'd have been happier if his contract was up NEXT year and he rode pine this year until we felt more confident about Brady and his knee.

This path was chosen when we tagged him. I'm not sure I'm happy with Cassel+Vrabes for a high 2nd, however.

The guy backed up:

1. CArson Palmer

2. Matt Leinhart

3. Tom Brady

How many guys would get starting time over those three? Answer -- DAMN few...

The thing about highlight reels is they never look bad, because they are all HIGHLIGHTS. However; Thigpens Badlight reel looks much worse than Cassel's.

I'll agree with Amnorix on this one: Cassel's deep ball was BAD. So was Brady's when he first started, though. Cassel doesn't lack the arm strength- he just needs time to develop touch and chemistry with his WRs, both of which can be learned.

Good post, Amnorix.

#10 was a better passer. #16 was a good game manager on a much better team.

#16 was clutch (from what I understand from my father and NFL Films).

Dad's take was "Lenny had a "D", but whenever you needed that 3rd down conversion or that TD pass to go ahead, he'd make it happen."

That's good enough for me....