Chiefs Matt Cassell -- My Assessment

Amnorix · 02-28-2009, 04:15 PM

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.

MTG#10 · 02-28-2009, 04:18 PM

So basically he is Tyler Thigpen.

ArrowheadHawk · 02-28-2009, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MTG#10

So basically he is Tyler Thigpen.

Hammock Parties · 02-28-2009, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MTG#10

So basically he is Tyler Thigpen.

+3 inches
+ an accurate arm
- lousy attitude

MTG#10 · 02-28-2009, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Claythan

+3 inches
+ an accurate arm
- lousy attitude

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

Hammock Parties · 02-28-2009, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MTG#10

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

As soon as he started doing skeletons from the rear.

aturnis · 02-28-2009, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MTG#10

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

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

MTG#10 · 02-28-2009, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aturnis

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

Thats a lousy attitude?

Sounds like a young man showing confidence in his skills to me...

2bikemike · 02-28-2009, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MTG#10

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

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

TRR · 02-28-2009, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2bikemike

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

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.

**Mr. Flopnuts** · 02-28-2009, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Claythan

+3 inches
+ an accurate arm
- lousy attitude

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.

Amnorix · 02-28-2009, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Flopnuts

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.

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.

Deberg_1990 · 02-28-2009, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amnorix

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.

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.

**Mr. Flopnuts** · 02-28-2009, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amnorix

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.

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.

Deberg_1990 · 02-28-2009, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amnorix

He is definitely very accurate in the short and mid range throws.

This should give Tony G and Bowe instant hard ons.

02-28-2009, 04:15 PM	Topic Starter
Amnorix In BB I trust Join Date: May 2003 Location: Boston, Mass. Casino cash: $10029808	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.
Posts: 43,125

02-28-2009, 04:18 PM	#2
MTG#10 Mammoth penis Join Date: May 2006 Location: Springfield Casino cash: $7394386	So basically he is Tyler Thigpen.
Posts: 11,432