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I've revised my opinion on Cassel's arm strength as the season's gone on. He's not a noodle-arm. The issue is accuracy, I think he has enough raw oomph to make the throws.
He's actually doing several things better than he did last year. Minus a couple head-scratching plays last week, he's getting the ball out faster, which is I think helping the line not look so woeful in pass protection. He's generally making better decisions, as outlined by the TD/int ratio, and does appear to be progressing through reads on slower developing plays.
But the issue is that we're talking about the development of a 28-year old player in terms you'd normally apply to a 22-year old just getting his feet wet in the league. If it does somehow, sometime *click*, I wonder just how much time he'll play at his 'peak', whatever that ends up being.
I suppose the upside would be Trent Green, Steve Beurlein, Mark Brunell, Rich Gannon style post-30th birthday performance. But even that level of play seems very far away at times. He's a bit better than 2009, but it would be difficult not to be...
And, unfortunately, he has yet to show any of the "it" that allows certain quarterbacks to elevate the team around them at moments where it's needed. He's showing this year that (so far) he's capable of not losing games. But he has yet to show that he can win one.
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