Matt Cassel Could Damage Scott Pioli's Otherwise Impressive Chiefs Legacy: Part II - What if Cassel is NOT the Guy?

But there is an advantage to needing a QB in this drsft, rather then picking one in any of the previous drafts:

1. This is likely going to be the best QB draft class since Roethlisberger.Manning/Rivers
2. A rookie QB would come into a very good situation, increasing the chance of success.

Draft a QB in the top 3 rounds
Keep Cassel through 2011, at least

IF the rookie is ready and wins the job, great… if not, maybe Cassel plays better, or at least good enough to win some games

When in NE, Pioli regularly traded and cut veteran, fan favorite players when those guys got to the point where their salaries exceeded their productivity. Based on his past behavior, I don’t think there’s any way he hangs on to Cassel if Cassel proves to be a total bust. There is nothing in Pioli’s past that suggests he has a Carl Peterson-like stubbornness to prove himself right.

Even if management no longer believes in him they aren’t going to put a rookie QB out there. Croyle will have most likely moved on as a free agent (he’s not the answer anyway) so the options are Cassel, a trade, or a FA QB. I guess maybe Kolb if the Eagles decide to stay with Vick, but I’m not so sure that he’s the answer either. QB is always a crapshoot, and I think it’s hard to blame Pioli for trying to go with Cassel. He DID play well that first year in NE, you really can’t deny that. I don’t think there were too many APers who were disappointed when we traded for him, right?

With that being said, we have to look at what we have and go forward.

Matt Cassel has not shown the ability to win games for us…Period! Like him or not.

I have to believe the coaching staff sees Cassel as a better option than Croyle or else he wouldn’t be starting. The player that gives us the best chance to win will play…I trust that Haley does this.

I do question why we didn’t draft a backup to mold and impove. But again, I trust Pioli.

In my personal opinion, if Cassel doesn’t improve he is gone.

Also in my personal opinion, replacing Cassel will not set the Franchise backwards, but will ultimately set us to greener pastures. Just like Cassel jumped in place of Brady and they didn’t skip a beat, the same will happen here.

We have a really good team. We just need a QB who can lead us to victory when needed and not be a liability.

Pioli and Haley have gotten us this far….I believe they will take us the rest of the way.

Yes Blackledge was possibly the biggest bust in Chiefs history. San Diego had arguably the biggest draft bust in the history of the league in Ryan Leaf. Guess what other QB they’ve draft in the top 5. PHILLIP RIVERS. Let’s just finally go wild and draft a first round QB. Yes, we don’t look like we’ll be in a position to draft Mallet/Luck/Locker, But why not trade up. I see both Mallet and Luck as being GREAT NFL QBs in the future.

I think our front office and coach are being extremely tactful, but they are scrutinizing every bit of Cassel’s performance this season.

Pioli is probably scouting the upcoming QB class as we speak….

That is if he allows the contract and trade for Cassel to keep him from drafting a QB if Cassel does not show significant improvement. I still have no issues with the contract or deal for Cassel. No one knew for sure what he was. The concern is that he has now started over 30 games in the NFL and has to start to prove he can be a top 15 QB. I personally doubt that it can happen. I was a supporter, but I have seen too many things that worry me long term about Cassel ability to become elite.

My big concern is not the second round pick and the big contract as much as I sure hope they do not stick with Cassel because of the contract if they feel he is not the answer.

It’s year 3 with an decent O-line protecting the QB:

-For the Cassell proponents, if he does well then he’s the “Gannon” of the 90’s.

-For the Cassell detractors, if he does poorly he’s the “Grabac” of the 90’s.

This is the year where the QB play falls directly on him. No more excuses.

Winners find some way to win.

Is for Matt Cassel to manage the game and don’t turn over the ball; wouldn’t that be a good beginning task to put on a young drafted QB? I think many of the stuggles with rookie QBs come when they are asked to go into a place with no talent and put the team on their back out of the gate. Many young QBs that have joined teams with talent in place have found success sooner than later. (Flaco, Rodgers, Sanchez, Big Ben…)

However, let’s say we move up and draft a QB in Round 1 – that rookie will be walking in to nice situation – relatively stable o-line, strong running game, and kick ass defense.

Had we drafted a 1st round QB in 2009, he would have entered a nightmare, and it may have limited his growth (imagine the Jets drafting Sanchez, but without two strong RB’s and a great line, and with a crappy defense).

I think Cassel did much better in 2009 than anyone we could have drafted would have. Now, if it appears he has reached his ceiling, the Chiefs will move on (though frankly I’m not crazy about any of the 2011 draft prospects…Mallet throws flat-footed far too often, and NFL safeties will eat up the floaters he launches from that position…I guess I would go with Luck if I had to pick)

how about the SF game, he threw 3 TDs, that didnt win the game for us?
how about the Cleveland game, trailing in the 4th quarter Cassel led us on a 14 play 68 yard drive to kick the game winning fg, on that drive Cassel was 5-7 for 50 yards, that didnt win the game for us?

When Pioli traded for Cassel, I think that at that time, it was the best direction to go. Cassel had played well enough in NE to justify giving him a chance to be a starter in KC. Given the choice between him and drafting a rookie, I would have made the same decision at that time. Pioli and Haley attributed his poor play last year to the O-line and decided not to draft a QB this year hoping that Cassel would improve. Through four games this season, it has become apparent that Cassel hasn’t been as consistent as we would have liked. While I hope that changes and Cassel starts to give consistent performances, the coaching staff is always evaluating every position including QB. I am not a Cassel hater. I very much want to see him become the QB that KC deserves, but like most I am getting nervous waiting for him to show it consistently.

About replacing the QB on a team that is winning and playing better. Doesn’t the eye test pretty much tell you that he isn’t the guy for the future?

When they brought in cassel I was excited but now seeing he can’t b the qb we need him to be. I really think we need to draft a qb high. We have no shot at Luck we might be able 2 get mallet. I personaly like Mallet

The Chiefs don’t need a franchise QB immediately to become a perennial playoff contender. It took Cowher and the Steeler’s 13 freaking years before they finally landed a “franchise QB”. What did they do in that time span? 8 playoff appearances and a superbowl appearance while being in the hunt almost every year. Plus when they got to the postseason, they actually won on a regular basis. Even when Cowher won the Superbowl, Rothleisburger played like dog poo. He hasn’t actually developed into a “franchise” QB until recently.

You can’t tell me Cassel is any worse than O’Donnell, Tomczak, Stewart, or Maddox. The Ravens didn’t have much trouble being one of the better teams in the league the past ten years with mediocre QBs as well. Tony Banks, Kyle Boller, Trent Dilfer.

I can think of maybe 6 or 7 that qualify for that term in todays market.
For any of you to think the Chiefs cannot go further without one is ludicrous. Look at Rich Gannon, Trent Dilfer, Doug Williams, Jeff Hostetlar, Brad Johnson, Chris Chandler, Stan Humphries, Neil O’Donnell, Kerry Collins, Rex Grossman, David Woodley, Vince Ferragamo, Tony Eason all who all led their teams to a Super Bowl and would never be considered “FRANCHISE” QB’s.

I would agree with you that it has been tough for him, and I actually like the guys work ethic, leadership, and willingness to work hard. But in all reality I feel that he is just a glorified backup QB. Since he stepped off the football field in high school he has been a backup with good reason. Meanwhile everyone keeps making excuses for him, like all the dropped passes and a horrible offensive line. I will agree with the dropped passes but that being said, most quality QB’s semm to overcome that. The ofensive line has steped up huge this year. Allowing ample time to get the ball off, and allowing the fewest sacks in the league so far. Anyone using the O line as an excuse for Cassel just can not admit he is very indecisive and usually holds on t the ball a little to long.
 
 I need to throw out his 2008 stats in New England. Any halfway decent QB could have had fairly good stats taking over arguably the best team in football at the time. Lets do a little comparison shall we…

  Kansas City QB’s since 2007

Year Name Comp% TD/INT Ratio QB Rating
2007 Damon Huard 62.0 11/13 76.8

2007 Brodie Croyle 56.7 6/6 69.9

2008 Tyler Thigpen 54.8 18/12 76.0

2009 Matt Cassel 55.0 16/16 69.9

2010* Matt Cassel 54.7 4/3 74.0

 If Huard,Croyle, and Thigpen were not the long term answers, based on performance, Cassel is NOT THE ANSWER…

Many of you act like just making the playoffs is enough this yr. The ultimate goal is to win the Super Bowl. We have enough D to make it, we have a good enough running game to make it, we have ST…what we dont have is a passing game and that starts with the QB….if we are good enough to make the playoffs , you should be thinking about the SB…….and Cassel cant put enough points on the board against playoff teams,THIS YR to get us there.

The windows for teams to win SB are very small. We should be exploring more for what we can do this yr than waiting for next yr, grooming another QB…..we need to make a change now…before we either play ourselves out of the playoffs behind Cassel or we miss our window completely. I know most of us didnt think it was a possiblity this yr, but we have a lead in our division and a very high percentage of making the playoffs….you got to move now….not wait. Nobody knows what next yr brings.

Chiefs are just beginning to surround the guy with just some degree of talent he had with Pats in 2008. He had Moss and Welker , just to name a couple of targets.

This might be a year to get another QB on board for future. IMO a team should get a QB either early or middle round at least every other year. You may hit ony a third of the time but you need to keep the pipeline full.

Some mock drafts have Luck, Locker and guy from Arkansas going in first 10 spots, others have them available later. Devlin , Stanzi and guy from Nevada may be available in 2nd/3rd rds. Need WR’s more but I see WR in first and possible QB in 2nd depending whats available.

that Matt Cassel is exactly what Haley wants. A moldable guy that won’t make too many mistakes.

and REC’d not only for being a good read, but love the gambling and Tin Cup. Regarding Cassel, I am giving him ‘til the end of the season to show me what he’s made of. Even if he pans out, IMO, we still need to draft a QB next year to sit on the pine and develop for a season or two.

Wasn’t this the same kind of argument about how our defense was gonna suck this year because we didn’t draft a NT or ILB? In order to follow this you have to accept the premise that Matt Cassel is expected to be the future, like he will ever get a contract extension or even finish his current contract. Why on earth would we bring in a “Sure thing” (Which doesn’t exist in the NFL draft) or another project in the draft if it didn’t fit our draft board?

We have brought in several project QB’s in the last 2 years and after evaluating them, let them go. I’ll bet in the next couple of years we have a QOF, but not until the time and personnel are right.

I don’t remember anyone going GAGA over Flacco when Balt drafted him, but look at him now. We’ll get all the pieces and yes the QB is very very important, but the right QB is far more important. As you pointed out, Sanchez is playing a role, we only need to find that role player for the short term and when the stars align the right QB will find his way to Arrow Head.

Doesn’t matter how good a QB is if the OL and running game can’t support him. That includes the far-from-proven Mark Sanchez. They had more important holes to fill all over the field, and they did that.

You want a risky move that has potential to seriously harm the team – how about trading up for Mark Sanchez when the team doesn’t really need him? Lost picks, lost bonus money, and 3 MORE years of lost time trying to figure out if he is the real deal.

If you find a young QB in the draft that can be the game manager to start and develop into a gunslinger, then I say go for it. All we are asking the QB to do in the current offense is manage the offense and occassionally make a big play. Sometimes Cassel can do this, sometimes he cannot. Inconsistency won’t win many games as we saw on Sunday. Yes, we had some other plays go bad, but if half of Cassels poor passes or bad plays were successful, we are 4-0.