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Training Camp Shootout: Quarterback

He's off his rocker. No, the rocker tipped too far and he's banged his head on the table where the bottle of moonshine is settin' a spell.  QB shootout at training camp?  Tom's our boy!  YOU...ARE...NUTS!!  Yes, there is a shootout, however it doesn't involve our tops-in-the-NFL pigskin tosser.  We need to keep the ranks fresh, dontcha know.  What happens if Tom decides to buy a ginormous Alpaca farm and retire?  Or, better yet, just lay in the grass with his girlfriend, Giselle, and sell cologne?  It's not a bad gig if you can get it.  Heck, I used to lay in the grass with my girlfriend and noone asked me to sell cologne.  Well, I'm not a 3 time SB champion QB nor was my girlfriend at the time one of the highest paid supermodels in the business.  She was cute and all, but I digress.

Unless something catastrophic happens, Brady is our man for the forseeable future.  He's the dude.  He's the franchise guy.  Nuff said.  So what's the big deal?  The big deal is planning for the future.  Matt Cassel's contract is up at the end of 2008 and Matt Gutierrez is relatively untested.  Just to confuse things a bit, Belichick and the front office have tossed in another QB with Kevin O'Connell.

The media had many questions for Cassel, but he was cool in a prototypcial, Belichick coolaid kind of way saying things like he is focusing on working hard and being prepared and... blah, blah, blah.  Word is, Gutierrez was tossing the rock with ease during 2008 OTAs.  Should Cassel be worried?  I think so.  I think he should be carrying a roll of toilet paper onto the field during training camp.

Tom Brady - Uhhmm...3 rings with average receivers (except for Deion Branch, of course), 50 regular season touchdown passes last year...Giselle...beautiful son.  Yup, he's got it all and he's the - drumroll please - starter.  Cymbal crash, thank you very much.

Matt Cassel - Matt should be worried.  Gutierrez looks good, darn good.  And Matt's appearances in 2007 weren't that awe inspiring.  You can bet, with the other Matt nipping at his heals, Cassel is cramming and looking to look sharp come July 24th.

Matt Gutierrez - He's hungry.  As I've stated above, he looked good in OTAs.  His throw had zip and he appeared to be working the routes correctly.  You can bet he's working as hard, if not harder, than Cassel.  He wants to move up in the ranks.  He wants the nod.  He wants to do something other than throw meaningless passes or take knees at the end of a blowout.

Kevin O'Connell - This pick was a head scratcher for many.  With 3 QBs already on the roster, was a third really necessary?  If O'Connell can make the grade and not fall victim to the chopping block, he could be a surprise pick.  A dual threat, he finished his senior year in college breaking both the passing and rushing records, the latter because his O line was sooooo bad, he was always on the run.

O'Connell, as the new guy, is probably vulnerable unless Belichick has him onboard for a reason.  Shake things up a bit?  He sees something in the kid?  Who knows.  He's Belichick, know what I'm sayin'?  I think Cassel is the most vulnerable at this point; he's got to hold on to his spot with 2 guys gunning for his job.  Maybe he should find a supermodel to date.

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I really liked O'Connell

If they cut him I’m love to see the Colts take him on as the backup. Especially if he’s cut in preseason. Peyton’s out for most or all of preseason so there’s plenty of 1st team reps to go around.

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by shake n bake on Jul 15, 2008 3:43 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Agreed

It was a surprise pick, but I think O’Connell could learn from Brady and become a decent QB in this league. However, I’d probably jump off of the Prudential Center if we cut him, Indy picks him up, and he becomes the starting QB (after Peyton retires), doing a number on NE in the process.

Blogger at SBNation's New England Patriots blog, Pats Pulpit

by MaPatsFan on Jul 15, 2008 7:23 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I'm not a Cassel fan

He’s been known to project who he’s throwing to, and actually look in the direction of his intended receiver. Cringe inducing to say the least. Granted we haven’t seen him start or play for any extended period, but personally I don’t have much confidence in him as Brady’s back-up. Can’t wait to see the 2nd-3rd tier shoot out shake down.

Keep the faith!

by Marima on Jul 17, 2008 10:59 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

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