Apparently, Keyshawn Johnson has fully recovered from the Warren Sapp verbal broadside and is back to talking football, the gig that doesn't require him to know the difference between an étagère and an English basement.
The former USC grad, one-time Jets first-round pick, and now-analyst for ESPN's NFL Countdown thinks the Patriots' Matt Cassel could've very easily been something more than a draft-day afterthought if not for the laws of probability. Via the Palm Beach Post's Edgar Thompson:
"(Cassel) was the coin flip from being the starter at USC," said Johnson ... "It's like one day Pete Carroll wakes up and says Matt Leinart. Pete Carroll wakes up another morning and says Cassel. ... If he says Cassel, does SC win two national championships, does he win the Heisman? Matt Leinart caught fire and there was no looking to replace him at point."Thompson then writes: "Now, Cassel is one of the NFL's hottest quarterbacks, coming off a 400-yard game, and the league's most improbable stories as he continues to lead the Tom Brady-less Patriots. Meanwhile Leinart is wasting away on the Arizona bench while Kurt Warner makes a run at his third MVP award."
I see where he's going with there, but Cassel is not "one of the NFL's hottest quarterbacks." Yes, he had a 400-yard game in a losing effort against the Jets, but he seldom throws ball down the field and he's got the luxury of playing in the most potent offense in the universe, not to mention a JV schedule.
Cassel currently ranks 18th in the league in yards per attempt (7.0), 26th in completions of more than 20 yards (18), and no quarterback has been sacked more often (32). Hardly hot.
Has Cassel been better than anybody expected? Yeah, sure. But all the talk about him evolving into a legitimate NFL quarterback after a half season of work is a tad short-sighted. And while I'm sure some team desperate for a little Pats fairy dust will pay him six or seven or eight million a year next offseason, he'll still be the same Matt Cassel who went nine years between starts.
For all of Johnson's praise, he seems to understand as much.
"The problem is if you go out there and pay (Cassel) a bunch of money to be your quarterback and you don't know as much about him as (Bill) Belichick and the Patriots," Keyshawn Johnson said. "I wouldn't be too quick to throw big money at him because he's played in a system for four or five years and has some pretty good talent around him."Unless Tom Brady has his leg amputated, I'm guessing he's not worried about his job security. I don't think Drew Bledsoe had such confidence back in 2001.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-23-2008 @ 10:18AM
IronmanX74 said...
I don't know that calling the Patriots offense the "most potent in the universe" is very fair. The Cardinals are having a heck of a year on offense, and without doing the proper leg work I'm sure there are many other teams with better offenses this year. A product of not having Brady? Possibly, but that doesn't change the fact that their running game is less than steller. You even pointed out he's been sacked a bunch; from what I've seen (not much, admittedly) the O-Line isn't playing up to snuff like they did previously.
No doubt he's got good receivers to work with. A great tandem in Moss and Welker. Better than Boldin and Fitzgerald? Probably not.
Why do you call it the most potent in the universe? I completely understand you're entitled to that, just curious as to your thoughts.
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11-23-2008 @ 10:19AM
ryan said...
IronmanX74,
Sorry, should've clarified: "the most potent offense in the universe" refers to the 2007 Pats.
11-24-2008 @ 10:24PM
old Fla Pats fan said...
Well as it has now come to pass that Cassell and the Pats beat Miami and Matt has his 2nd in a row 400 yard game and another rushing TD mabe your thinking about another tune like,Hey, Bill Billichek sure has a way to groom a Quarterback. Afterall he has now taken 2 basically unknowns and seems to be creating a mindset in them to become quite accomplished.
Don't underestimate the power of the Hoodie!
He has a way that instills confidence in all his players. Thats why they succede.
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11-27-2008 @ 9:41PM
ralman said...
This guy is just a doubter/hater. those stats are right but he only shows the bad unimportant stats >>> ranks 18th in yards per attempt (7.0), 26th in completions of more than 20 yardsHardly hot..
look cassel is top ten in more than 5 (important) stat categories.
yds per game ect. his stats will be better than bradys 01 and are better than leinarts first year better than eli, and many nfl qb's first years. hes just trying to knock cassel. he doesnt have the most potent offense ever relax. dallas has to and RW. arizona AB & fitz. cassel has moss. and a 4th string undrafted rookie RB.
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