WHAT'S THE FUTURE HOLD FOR CHIEFS' FANS... PART 1
When I solicited emails & comments from you about your Kansas City Chiefs, I figured I'd get 25-30 responses. I got 78, I had no idea so many of you had questions, complaints & suggestions regarding the future of your team. It goes to show just how much passion Chiefs' fans have for their football team. Seventy-eight responses is nearly 10% of my daily hits on this site. I thank you for your quick response since the season ended. Because of the volume, I'm going to cut this up into 2 or 3(I might receive more questions) posts over the next three days. I will start with the offense.
WHAT WE KNOW:
The Chiefs' 10-6 record had more to do with their favorable schedule than the overall improvement of the team's talent level. Their 10-6 record had more to do with their new coordinators than with the team's talent level. Their 10-6 record was deceptive in that their win over Jacksonville was the only one against a team with a winning record. The win in Seattle was the only one versus a playoff team. Barely squeezing out wins against Buffalo & Denver at Arrowhead was a concern as were the blowout losses to Denver, San Diego & Oakland. Getting lost in the euphoria of a 10-6 record that resulted in a Western Division crown was easy, Chiefs' fans have been disappointed season after season, it was easy to get a little carried away. I said before the season began this is a 7-8 win team. I still believe that, the factors I mentioned boosted that number up to 10 wins. But losing yet another playoff game was certainly disappointing, the Chiefs now own the NFL record for consecutive playoff losses, not a record you want for your team. I hope everyone will watch the playoffs this weekend, watch something besides the ball & you'll see the difference between real, true Super Bowl contenders & a pretender like the Chiefs. Yes, the Chiefs could beat any of them on "any given Sunday" but they wouldn't be a playoff team year after year like some of these teams have been. The overall talent levels of these teams is far superior to the Chiefs. But that can be fixed, let's just hope Scott Pioli can draft the right personnel to elevate that talent level to be competitive with the Pittsburgh's, Baltimore's & New England.
QB Brody Croyle & C Casey Wiegmann are without contracts for the 2011 season. I question whether either is in the plans for next season. Croyle isn't a satisfactory backup in my opinion, why pay that much money for someone who isn't reliable? Wiegmann was a great pickup last year. He was a major upgrade from Rudy Niswanger, so much so Niswanger was inactive for 11 games. I wouldn't have a major complaint with Wiegmann coming back for one more season, but a high quality center will have to be signed or drafted very soon. I wonder if Brian Waters will be back, I think his time with Todd Haley, since their day one confrontation in the hall out at Arrowhead, has worn thin with Waters. He could have two more quality NFL seasons, they just might be with another team.
Replacing Charlie Weis could prove painful, I don't see Todd Haley relinquishing much control, that's what he didn't like about Weis. Weis got too much credit for the offensive improvement, some warranted, some not. I think Dwayne Bowe's breakout season was more because of the way Haley treated him, both this year & last season. Weis was brought into Kansas City to "fix the quarterback" & he did. Using creative game plans & selective play calling, Weis got the most out of Matt Cassel. I doubt he'll ever duplicate his 2010 stats, 27 TD passes & just 7 interceptions in 15 games was excellent. I have to believe Haley will hire a puppet offensive coordinator or he'll call the plays himself. I don't think either is acceptable as I question how strong the relationship is between coach & QB.
Let's get onto the evaluation of each offensive position:
RUNNING BACK was a position of strength in 2010 but Thomas Jones faded the 2nd half of the season. I don't see a future for him next season. I hope Jamaal Charles will get another 4 carries per game. Bob in Milwaukee wondered if Charles ever started a game this season. The answer is no, Jones started every game. Bob made a good point, "shouldn't the Chiefs want to start fast, play with the lead?" Absolutely right, they are not built to come from behind, so why not start your home run hitter? I want to see another RB, hopefully a bigger, stronger runner. For those who want Jackie Battle to be that guy, I have to disagree with you. I watched Battle in college at Houston & for years in Kansas City, he's not instinctive as a short-yardage runner & not quick out of the blocks. He would not be a reliable short yardage or goal line runner. He's a dandy special teams player, but not a realistic backup for Charles. Finding a replacement for Jones should be a pretty high priority.
TIGHT END began with promise when rookie Tony Moeaki caught a touchdown on opening night & then again in week 3 versus Frisco. He caught only one more the rest of the season. His 47 catches with an 11-yard average was good, but he has the talent to do so much more. Leonard Pope is a decent 3rd TE, but not a 2nd. Only Mike Cox has a smaller yards-per-catch than Pope. He gets flagged too often as well. Jake O'Connell isn't an NFL player, too many costly penalties, not used as a target in the passing game. So he must be a superior blocker & special teams player. He is neither. A modest upgrade is needed at this position but as long as Moeaki stays healthy & he continues to improve, it's not urgent. To Jamie in Overland Park, I don't see Haley running an offense like New England has with dual tight ends catching 87 passes & 16 TD's between them. Haley hasn't shown himself to be very flexible so I don't see a major change regardless of what happens elsewhere.
WIDE RECEIVER is at or near the top of the list where dramatic improvement must occur. The fact that the Chiefs signed Kevin Curtis off his sofa four days before a playoff game & he starts should tell you all you need to know about the state of this group, it's awful. Dwayne Bowe not only didn't catch a pass in the Wildcard Playoff game, but he wasn't even targeted. For most of the regular season, Bowe was sensational but he was invisible in a couple of games & actually hurt the team with drops in Indy & Oakland. If Haley can continue to keep Bowe on edge, he could be a dependable weapon. Don't look for 15 touchdowns again, that part of his 2010 season won't happen again. As for the rest of the wide receivers, not much to tell. Chris Chambers won't be back, neither will Curtis. Verran Tucker & Terrence Copper don't really contribute in the offense, but are superior special teams players & I mean superior. Dexter McCluster was going to be a motion guy out of the backfield, a slot receiver, a game-changer & with only a couple of exceptions, he was a miserable bust. He struggled in training camp, always drawing the ire of Charlie Weis. I don't know if he will ever become the impact player Scott Pioli envisioned when he was drafted. Jeremy Horne languished on the practice squad all season & he might be someone the Chiefs can use every Sunday. Maybe. Horne has size, excellent speed & decent hands from what we saw at training camp. The problem is he doesn't run crisp routes or read coverages very well. Both those deficiencies lead to interceptions, something this offense can't afford. I got more questions & ideas on this position than any other, twenty-two & surprisingly all 22 centered around just a couple personnel moves. The most popular was the idea that Larry Fitzgerald would A, become available, B, want to come to Kansas City & C, Arizona & K.C. could work out a deal for his services. While I have no doubt Fitzgerald would be a major upgrade for the Chiefs' passing game, I question B & C. I just don't see Scott Pioli giving up what it would take to get a player like Fitzgerald. Yes, as some of you pointed out, he traded for Randy Moss when he was GM at New England. But Moss was a fire sale with the Raiders, they wanted him gone & a measly 4th round draft pick was good enough. Fitzgerald has none of Moss' baggage, he's younger & has worked hard to improve his game. Plus Pioli is a firm believer in building thru the draft. For those who want A.J. Green or Julio Jones, I have to say I doubt it. Green would be long gone as he's deserving of a top-10 selection. Jones could be there at #21 for the Chiefs, but there are questions about him. He's been injured, he's had off-field issues, the latter a no-no with the new regime at Arrowhead. There are plenty of NFL quality receivers who were selected after round one. Very quickly I'll give you a list of wide receivers who have been selected in the last three drafts, all of them are still playing this weekend.
2nd rounders: Jordy Nelson(Green Bay) & Golden Tate(Sea)
3rd rounders: Brandon Tate(NE), Mike Wallace(Pitt), Emmanuel Sanders(Pitt), Harry Douglas(Atl) & Earl Bennett(Chi)
5th round: Johnny Knox(Chi)
7th round: Julian Edelman(NE)
Others taken in the same drafts:
2nd rounders: DeSean Jackson(Phil), Jerome Simpson(Cin) & Eddie Royal(Den)
3rd round: Jordan Shipley(Cin)
4th rounders: Mike Williams(Tam) & Jacoby Ford(Oak)
6th round: Pierre Garcon(Ind)
Undrafted: Blair White(Ind), Danny Amendola(StL) & Davonne Bess(Mia)
There has been excellent talent available the last three years at WR. How much we'll see this year remains to be seen, but it looks as tho it will be less than in past years. A number of the most sought after wideouts have decided to stay in school, so only Green & Jones appear to be 1st round talent.
OFFENSIVE TACKLE has three incumbents, LT Brandon Albert, RT Ryan O'Callaghan & swing tackle Barry Richardson, who became the starter at RT when O'Callaghan had injury issues earlier in the season. Frankly, I'm not sold on any of them at the positions they currently hold down. Albert is beaten too many times in pass protection. He's a good downfield blocker & gets a decent push in short yardage. I think he would be better at his college position, left guard. But I doubt he'll be moved anytime soon. O'Callaghan is an effective run blocker but he has trouble hitting a moving target when called upon to hit a linebacker at the 2nd level. His footwork in pass protection isn't consistently at an NFL level. He could very well be gone. Richardson has never been a favorite of mine. I didn't like his selection back in 2008, but he does a decent job as the swing tackle. It takes pretty good athleticism to play both sides, the footwork is almost exactly opposite & that's tough to do, not many can do this job well. My gripe with Richardson is he doesn't fire out & hit anybody, he is too passive in pass protection & his initial punch doesn't carry much of a wallop. His footwork is above average on both sides of the line, but his lack of aggressiveness has been with him since his days at Clemson. He used to lean on opponents & got by with it because he was so much bigger. But at this level offensive linemen have to deliver some pop with their initial punch, it stops their opponent, sometimes knocking them off balance, sometimes giving the puncher leverage against their opponent. O'Callaghan has this part of it down, he hits people. Albert whiffs too often, beaten by counter moves, stunts & loops. Richardson more or less stays in front of his man, walling them off for a second or two, but never finishing them off. I can't recall seeing Barry Richardson ever pancake an opponent at Clemson or in the NFL.
I sure would like to see a fresh face out there at training camp next year. Preferably a left tackle but I think what we're going to see is someone to play exclusively on the right side & they'll make Richardson the fulltime backup for both sides.
CENTER & OFFENSIVE GUARD went from a problem to a strength with the acquisition of center Casey Wiegmann, Ryan Lilja to play RG & then drafting Jon Asamoah as a backup. Lilja is a finesse blocker, much like Wiegmann so when you add Barry Richardson in at RT, it's damn difficult to get a push in short yardage from the center out to right tackle. If Brian Waters stays another season, the Chiefs are pretty well set at this position. Asamoah is more of a brawler than Lilja. There has been discussion about moving Waters to center or possibly Asamoah, both have the smarts to make the line calls & both are more powerful to handle the growing number of 3-4 defense nose tackles. Counting divisional games, the Chiefs will face ten 3-4 defenses next year. A more powerful center is something to consider. Former starting center Rudy Niswanger is no longer in the picture & shouldn't return.
QUARTERBACK is a question mark in my mind. I sincerely don't believe the Matt Cassel we saw this season is the one we'll see from here on out. Josh, Jamie, LT56, JoeB all have the same questions regarding Cassel. Was this his career year? Was this, as I submit, more to do with Charlie Weis than with Matt Cassel's ability to play quarterback in the NFL? I thought Cassel was a middle-of-the-pack QB when he was traded to Kansas City, that opinion hasn't changed. I just believe he was protected by Weis & it worked. Now Weis is gone & if Todd Haley is calling the game, I have my doubts Cassel will continue to improve. It's not his fault, he hasn't taken the number of game snaps other quarterbacks have. Until Tom Brady went down in week one of the 2008 season, Cassel hadn't started a game at quarterback in seven years. During his entire time at USC he threw only 33 passes, that's not much experience. In three seasons at New England prior to Brady's injury, Cassel played little. Let's just say I need more proof to sell me on Cassel as a true franchise quarterback. I've spoken my piece about Croyle, I think he was better a couple of years ago than he is now, his confidence seems to be at an all-time low. Tyler Palko isn't remotely close to being an NFL quarterback. So drafting a quarterback is a must in my opinion, not in the first two rounds, but after that, I think you'll see Pioli select a QB who has durability & some experience. That's two traits his quarterbacks don't have right now. For those who want to finagle a way to draft Andrew Luck in the spring of 2012, forget it, not going to happen, he'll go to whoever finishes with the worst record. he's the best quarterback prospect I've seen in decades. At similar points in their college careers, he's way better than Sam Bradford, who made quite an impressive transition to the pro game this season. Cassel can be a serviceable quarterback while we shore up the rest of the team, maybe they can even win a playoff game with Matt Cassel. We better hope so, he'll be the starter, barring injury, for at least the next two years.
FULLBACK isn't a vital part of Todd Haley's offense. Tim Castille & Mike Cox have taken turns being active on Sunday, neither making much of an impression. The days of Kimble Anders, Tony Richardson & Lorenzo Neal are over in today's NFL. The fullback is no longer the safety valve in the passing game, many teams don't even use them as lead blockers preferring to have an extra tight end instead. Fullbacks don't work in spread formations either. This isn't a position of strength or weakness in my mind. Neither are particularly stout blockers & neither works as a checkdown receiver, so I really don't know if either of these guys is what is needed, sorry.
WHAT WE KNOW:
The Chiefs' 10-6 record had more to do with their favorable schedule than the overall improvement of the team's talent level. Their 10-6 record had more to do with their new coordinators than with the team's talent level. Their 10-6 record was deceptive in that their win over Jacksonville was the only one against a team with a winning record. The win in Seattle was the only one versus a playoff team. Barely squeezing out wins against Buffalo & Denver at Arrowhead was a concern as were the blowout losses to Denver, San Diego & Oakland. Getting lost in the euphoria of a 10-6 record that resulted in a Western Division crown was easy, Chiefs' fans have been disappointed season after season, it was easy to get a little carried away. I said before the season began this is a 7-8 win team. I still believe that, the factors I mentioned boosted that number up to 10 wins. But losing yet another playoff game was certainly disappointing, the Chiefs now own the NFL record for consecutive playoff losses, not a record you want for your team. I hope everyone will watch the playoffs this weekend, watch something besides the ball & you'll see the difference between real, true Super Bowl contenders & a pretender like the Chiefs. Yes, the Chiefs could beat any of them on "any given Sunday" but they wouldn't be a playoff team year after year like some of these teams have been. The overall talent levels of these teams is far superior to the Chiefs. But that can be fixed, let's just hope Scott Pioli can draft the right personnel to elevate that talent level to be competitive with the Pittsburgh's, Baltimore's & New England.
QB Brody Croyle & C Casey Wiegmann are without contracts for the 2011 season. I question whether either is in the plans for next season. Croyle isn't a satisfactory backup in my opinion, why pay that much money for someone who isn't reliable? Wiegmann was a great pickup last year. He was a major upgrade from Rudy Niswanger, so much so Niswanger was inactive for 11 games. I wouldn't have a major complaint with Wiegmann coming back for one more season, but a high quality center will have to be signed or drafted very soon. I wonder if Brian Waters will be back, I think his time with Todd Haley, since their day one confrontation in the hall out at Arrowhead, has worn thin with Waters. He could have two more quality NFL seasons, they just might be with another team.
Replacing Charlie Weis could prove painful, I don't see Todd Haley relinquishing much control, that's what he didn't like about Weis. Weis got too much credit for the offensive improvement, some warranted, some not. I think Dwayne Bowe's breakout season was more because of the way Haley treated him, both this year & last season. Weis was brought into Kansas City to "fix the quarterback" & he did. Using creative game plans & selective play calling, Weis got the most out of Matt Cassel. I doubt he'll ever duplicate his 2010 stats, 27 TD passes & just 7 interceptions in 15 games was excellent. I have to believe Haley will hire a puppet offensive coordinator or he'll call the plays himself. I don't think either is acceptable as I question how strong the relationship is between coach & QB.
Let's get onto the evaluation of each offensive position:
RUNNING BACK was a position of strength in 2010 but Thomas Jones faded the 2nd half of the season. I don't see a future for him next season. I hope Jamaal Charles will get another 4 carries per game. Bob in Milwaukee wondered if Charles ever started a game this season. The answer is no, Jones started every game. Bob made a good point, "shouldn't the Chiefs want to start fast, play with the lead?" Absolutely right, they are not built to come from behind, so why not start your home run hitter? I want to see another RB, hopefully a bigger, stronger runner. For those who want Jackie Battle to be that guy, I have to disagree with you. I watched Battle in college at Houston & for years in Kansas City, he's not instinctive as a short-yardage runner & not quick out of the blocks. He would not be a reliable short yardage or goal line runner. He's a dandy special teams player, but not a realistic backup for Charles. Finding a replacement for Jones should be a pretty high priority.
TIGHT END began with promise when rookie Tony Moeaki caught a touchdown on opening night & then again in week 3 versus Frisco. He caught only one more the rest of the season. His 47 catches with an 11-yard average was good, but he has the talent to do so much more. Leonard Pope is a decent 3rd TE, but not a 2nd. Only Mike Cox has a smaller yards-per-catch than Pope. He gets flagged too often as well. Jake O'Connell isn't an NFL player, too many costly penalties, not used as a target in the passing game. So he must be a superior blocker & special teams player. He is neither. A modest upgrade is needed at this position but as long as Moeaki stays healthy & he continues to improve, it's not urgent. To Jamie in Overland Park, I don't see Haley running an offense like New England has with dual tight ends catching 87 passes & 16 TD's between them. Haley hasn't shown himself to be very flexible so I don't see a major change regardless of what happens elsewhere.
WIDE RECEIVER is at or near the top of the list where dramatic improvement must occur. The fact that the Chiefs signed Kevin Curtis off his sofa four days before a playoff game & he starts should tell you all you need to know about the state of this group, it's awful. Dwayne Bowe not only didn't catch a pass in the Wildcard Playoff game, but he wasn't even targeted. For most of the regular season, Bowe was sensational but he was invisible in a couple of games & actually hurt the team with drops in Indy & Oakland. If Haley can continue to keep Bowe on edge, he could be a dependable weapon. Don't look for 15 touchdowns again, that part of his 2010 season won't happen again. As for the rest of the wide receivers, not much to tell. Chris Chambers won't be back, neither will Curtis. Verran Tucker & Terrence Copper don't really contribute in the offense, but are superior special teams players & I mean superior. Dexter McCluster was going to be a motion guy out of the backfield, a slot receiver, a game-changer & with only a couple of exceptions, he was a miserable bust. He struggled in training camp, always drawing the ire of Charlie Weis. I don't know if he will ever become the impact player Scott Pioli envisioned when he was drafted. Jeremy Horne languished on the practice squad all season & he might be someone the Chiefs can use every Sunday. Maybe. Horne has size, excellent speed & decent hands from what we saw at training camp. The problem is he doesn't run crisp routes or read coverages very well. Both those deficiencies lead to interceptions, something this offense can't afford. I got more questions & ideas on this position than any other, twenty-two & surprisingly all 22 centered around just a couple personnel moves. The most popular was the idea that Larry Fitzgerald would A, become available, B, want to come to Kansas City & C, Arizona & K.C. could work out a deal for his services. While I have no doubt Fitzgerald would be a major upgrade for the Chiefs' passing game, I question B & C. I just don't see Scott Pioli giving up what it would take to get a player like Fitzgerald. Yes, as some of you pointed out, he traded for Randy Moss when he was GM at New England. But Moss was a fire sale with the Raiders, they wanted him gone & a measly 4th round draft pick was good enough. Fitzgerald has none of Moss' baggage, he's younger & has worked hard to improve his game. Plus Pioli is a firm believer in building thru the draft. For those who want A.J. Green or Julio Jones, I have to say I doubt it. Green would be long gone as he's deserving of a top-10 selection. Jones could be there at #21 for the Chiefs, but there are questions about him. He's been injured, he's had off-field issues, the latter a no-no with the new regime at Arrowhead. There are plenty of NFL quality receivers who were selected after round one. Very quickly I'll give you a list of wide receivers who have been selected in the last three drafts, all of them are still playing this weekend.
2nd rounders: Jordy Nelson(Green Bay) & Golden Tate(Sea)
3rd rounders: Brandon Tate(NE), Mike Wallace(Pitt), Emmanuel Sanders(Pitt), Harry Douglas(Atl) & Earl Bennett(Chi)
5th round: Johnny Knox(Chi)
7th round: Julian Edelman(NE)
Others taken in the same drafts:
2nd rounders: DeSean Jackson(Phil), Jerome Simpson(Cin) & Eddie Royal(Den)
3rd round: Jordan Shipley(Cin)
4th rounders: Mike Williams(Tam) & Jacoby Ford(Oak)
6th round: Pierre Garcon(Ind)
Undrafted: Blair White(Ind), Danny Amendola(StL) & Davonne Bess(Mia)
There has been excellent talent available the last three years at WR. How much we'll see this year remains to be seen, but it looks as tho it will be less than in past years. A number of the most sought after wideouts have decided to stay in school, so only Green & Jones appear to be 1st round talent.
OFFENSIVE TACKLE has three incumbents, LT Brandon Albert, RT Ryan O'Callaghan & swing tackle Barry Richardson, who became the starter at RT when O'Callaghan had injury issues earlier in the season. Frankly, I'm not sold on any of them at the positions they currently hold down. Albert is beaten too many times in pass protection. He's a good downfield blocker & gets a decent push in short yardage. I think he would be better at his college position, left guard. But I doubt he'll be moved anytime soon. O'Callaghan is an effective run blocker but he has trouble hitting a moving target when called upon to hit a linebacker at the 2nd level. His footwork in pass protection isn't consistently at an NFL level. He could very well be gone. Richardson has never been a favorite of mine. I didn't like his selection back in 2008, but he does a decent job as the swing tackle. It takes pretty good athleticism to play both sides, the footwork is almost exactly opposite & that's tough to do, not many can do this job well. My gripe with Richardson is he doesn't fire out & hit anybody, he is too passive in pass protection & his initial punch doesn't carry much of a wallop. His footwork is above average on both sides of the line, but his lack of aggressiveness has been with him since his days at Clemson. He used to lean on opponents & got by with it because he was so much bigger. But at this level offensive linemen have to deliver some pop with their initial punch, it stops their opponent, sometimes knocking them off balance, sometimes giving the puncher leverage against their opponent. O'Callaghan has this part of it down, he hits people. Albert whiffs too often, beaten by counter moves, stunts & loops. Richardson more or less stays in front of his man, walling them off for a second or two, but never finishing them off. I can't recall seeing Barry Richardson ever pancake an opponent at Clemson or in the NFL.
I sure would like to see a fresh face out there at training camp next year. Preferably a left tackle but I think what we're going to see is someone to play exclusively on the right side & they'll make Richardson the fulltime backup for both sides.
CENTER & OFFENSIVE GUARD went from a problem to a strength with the acquisition of center Casey Wiegmann, Ryan Lilja to play RG & then drafting Jon Asamoah as a backup. Lilja is a finesse blocker, much like Wiegmann so when you add Barry Richardson in at RT, it's damn difficult to get a push in short yardage from the center out to right tackle. If Brian Waters stays another season, the Chiefs are pretty well set at this position. Asamoah is more of a brawler than Lilja. There has been discussion about moving Waters to center or possibly Asamoah, both have the smarts to make the line calls & both are more powerful to handle the growing number of 3-4 defense nose tackles. Counting divisional games, the Chiefs will face ten 3-4 defenses next year. A more powerful center is something to consider. Former starting center Rudy Niswanger is no longer in the picture & shouldn't return.
QUARTERBACK is a question mark in my mind. I sincerely don't believe the Matt Cassel we saw this season is the one we'll see from here on out. Josh, Jamie, LT56, JoeB all have the same questions regarding Cassel. Was this his career year? Was this, as I submit, more to do with Charlie Weis than with Matt Cassel's ability to play quarterback in the NFL? I thought Cassel was a middle-of-the-pack QB when he was traded to Kansas City, that opinion hasn't changed. I just believe he was protected by Weis & it worked. Now Weis is gone & if Todd Haley is calling the game, I have my doubts Cassel will continue to improve. It's not his fault, he hasn't taken the number of game snaps other quarterbacks have. Until Tom Brady went down in week one of the 2008 season, Cassel hadn't started a game at quarterback in seven years. During his entire time at USC he threw only 33 passes, that's not much experience. In three seasons at New England prior to Brady's injury, Cassel played little. Let's just say I need more proof to sell me on Cassel as a true franchise quarterback. I've spoken my piece about Croyle, I think he was better a couple of years ago than he is now, his confidence seems to be at an all-time low. Tyler Palko isn't remotely close to being an NFL quarterback. So drafting a quarterback is a must in my opinion, not in the first two rounds, but after that, I think you'll see Pioli select a QB who has durability & some experience. That's two traits his quarterbacks don't have right now. For those who want to finagle a way to draft Andrew Luck in the spring of 2012, forget it, not going to happen, he'll go to whoever finishes with the worst record. he's the best quarterback prospect I've seen in decades. At similar points in their college careers, he's way better than Sam Bradford, who made quite an impressive transition to the pro game this season. Cassel can be a serviceable quarterback while we shore up the rest of the team, maybe they can even win a playoff game with Matt Cassel. We better hope so, he'll be the starter, barring injury, for at least the next two years.
FULLBACK isn't a vital part of Todd Haley's offense. Tim Castille & Mike Cox have taken turns being active on Sunday, neither making much of an impression. The days of Kimble Anders, Tony Richardson & Lorenzo Neal are over in today's NFL. The fullback is no longer the safety valve in the passing game, many teams don't even use them as lead blockers preferring to have an extra tight end instead. Fullbacks don't work in spread formations either. This isn't a position of strength or weakness in my mind. Neither are particularly stout blockers & neither works as a checkdown receiver, so I really don't know if either of these guys is what is needed, sorry.
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