Matt Cassell -- My Assessment

[Amnorix]

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.

[-King-]

Originally Posted by Claythan

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

End of discussion.

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

[the Talking Can]

so he's a black Thigpen?

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

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.

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.

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by Mr. Flopnuts

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.

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.

(sorry, couldn't resist)

[MTG#10]

Originally Posted by Just Passin' By

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'.

I like your post better. Sorry Amnorix.

[kcfanXIII]

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.

[Deberg_1990]

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.

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

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.

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.

[dirk digler]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

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.

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

Thanks for the input Amnorix

[Hammock Parties]

How about his footwork, Amno?

[TRR]

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.

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by Just Passin' By

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'.

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.

[tboss27]

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.

[DaWolf]

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...

[Saleenman607]

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