This is the time of year where the lists become endless, the rankings become more ridiculous and everyone is reaching just a bit for something -- anything -- noteworthy about football. Of course, most teams don't want to make waves this time of year and are quite happy with the lack of news. That means that their players aren't getting injured, aren't airing grievances in public, and things are generally well and good. But in the spirit of the season...
Patrick Daugherty over at Rotoworld recently wrote out a "best case" and "worst case" list of scenarios for each quarterback in the NFL. In short, if the 2012 season played out with everything going right or wrong, what would happen to the man in charge of it all? This is how the Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel came out:
Best Case: Cassel proves to be the league’s premier game-manager, minimizing his mistakes while approaching the career-best 3,693 yards he threw for in 2008.
Worst Case: Cassel barely holds off Brady Quinn in the preseason before finally succumbing to him in Week 5. He’s unceremoniously released in March.
As for the good, it feels a lot like the 2010 season where Cassel made the Pro Bowl as an alternate with a very efficient game and a 27 to 7 touchdown to interception ratio under Charlie Weis as offensive coordinator. He's got a lot of weapons in 2012, more perhaps than ever before, but several are also returning from injuries. If everyone is healthy, this scenario is actually quite plausible.
As for the worst case, it's difficult to see this one happening. The Chiefs schedule is front-loaded in 2012 and becomes much easier. Brian Daboll's offense is going to take some time to adjust to and players like Jamaal Charles and Tony Moeaki will still be getting into game shape after being gone for all of 2011. Even if the Chiefs are 1-4 after five games, there's no way Cassel is sitting.
So what are your thoughts on this Sunday about the best and worst case scenarios for Matt Cassel? Feel free to list out your own scenarios below.