Patriots Could Continue Youth Movement At Backup QB

Doug Flutie and Vinny Testaverde ain't walkin' through that door. Not yet, anyway. It's May, the first round of minicamps are over, and the Patriots are still without a veteran backup quarterback.

Just like the previous two years when Matt Cassel served as Tom Brady's understudy. And last fall when Cassel started 15 games after Bernard Pollard blew up Brady's knee 15 minutes into the 2008 season. But this summer is different; New England traded Cassel to Kansas City and despite a glut of available veteran free-agent quarterbacks, the Patriots decided to keep it in-house.

Kevin O'Connell, drafted in the third round a year ago, is currently the No. 2 quarterback. Maybe that changes before September -- the Pats could sign an old-timer if Brady isn't ready -- and maybe it doesn't. It's hard to say what Bill Belichick will do, plus, it's May -- training camps don't start for another 10 weeks. Via ESPN.com's Tim Graham:

"Ultimately, I don't think they've reached a conclusion," said former NFL executive Michael Lombardi, who writes for the National Football Post. "They haven't had a preseason to really evaluate their quarterbacks and this is the time, May and June, to see where they need to go.

"The course right now is to develop O'Connell and see where they are in the preseason and then make adjustments."

Graham writes that "New England can't expect to keep inserting neophyte quarterbacks into the lineup and get away with it." And Scouts Inc. analyst Matt Williamson adds: "I don't think that can be a recipe you can count on ... I do think there's some risk. It would be nice to have a veteran in the fold, but they know what they're doing."

A year ago, I'd agree with Graham; Cassel hadn't started an organized football game in nine years, he was a seventh-round pick, and Brady was the Patriots. Now I'm convinced Belichick, through some deal that cost him his soul, can see things the rest of us can't. New England won 11 games with Cassel and the 11 guys masquerading as a defense -- I'm willing to give the head coach the benefit of the doubt here.

Belichick's prescience aside, perhaps the primary difference between Cassel and O'Connell is that Cassel had three stress-free years to learn the Patriots offense before finally being forced into duty. If New England should need O'Connell next season, he will have had just over a year to assimilate the same information.

But again, this assumes that Belichick isn't smarter than the rest of us. Combined.