Matt Cassel: The Cure to Kansas City Misery?

Last year, quarterback Matt Cassel did the unlikely.

Let’s rewind to his college years at the University of Southern California first.

Cassel, who hadn’t started a game since high school, spent his entire college career as the second in line to Heisman Trophy winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart.

On draft day in 2005, it didn’t appear as though Cassel’s name would be called, as he heard 229 names called individually, each of them guaranteed at least a chance to compete for a spot on the roster.

He breathed a sigh of relief when his name was called in the seventh round. After spending college watching USC's dominance from the sidelines, his entire life seemed headed for the bench, as he had been drafted by the New England Patriots, home of All-Everything quarterback Tom Brady.

At least he had a spot on the roster.

For three seasons, Cassel watched from his usual spot on the bench, ready to jump at the opportunity to play. Then, the unthinkable happened.

Brady went down in Week 1 with an injury that sidelined him for all of last season. Cassel had the unenviable task of taking the reins of a ship that set sail for a 19-0 record in 2007, only to be set off course by the gale force winds of the New York Giants’ pass rush.

In he stepped, and slowly but surely he grew into a reliable and consistent starter, posting impressive stat lines of 3,693 yards and 21 touchdowns to go along with 270 yards rushing and 2 rushing scores.

With questions of Brady’s rehab abound, the Patriots did the only thing they could do—they put the franchise tag on Cassel.

Then finally, the answer became vividly clear—Brady would be back. Instead of putting Cassel back on the bench as an insurance policy, the Patriots dealt him along with veteran linebacker Mike Vrabel to the Kansas City Chiefs for a second round draft pick in 2009’s NFL Draft.

How ironic, that Cassel stepped in for the Patriots against the Kansas City Chiefs, and not more than six months later found himself suited up in red, white, and yellow?

No matter, though; now, Matt Cassel has a franchise to call his own, his home. For the first time in his life, he is expected to start a full regular season. One question remains—is he ready?

One would think that the solid mentoring he received from former Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels would’ve prepared him for life as a starter, but Cassel faces a much different environment in Kansas City.

As such, there are a lot of questions that remain unanswered leading into the 2009 season.

Will the Lack of Firepower Make a Difference?

With two talented athletes like Randy Moss and Wes Welker on the flanks, ready to catch anything being heaved in their general direction, one could understand how Cassel put up such respectable numbers.

Too many times, Randy Moss was held to only two or three receptions; largely, this was due to teams rolling extra coverage to Moss on nearly every down, but at times it was clear that Cassel’s deep passes just didn’t have the zip necessary to reach the 6’4” “Freak”.

He always had a reliable outlet and/or checkdown receiver in Wes Welker, aka “The Slot Machine”, but no one on the Chiefs can really mimic the sure hands or the quickness of Welker. He was a necessary tool in Cassel’s grooming, as well; Welker accounted for nearly one-third of Cassel’s completions last season.

Beyond receivers Welker and Moss, words can’t describe how valuable Kevin Faulk was to Matt Cassel coming along as a starter last season. He had 58 receptions last season, which ranked third among all running backs, and accounted for 993 yards from scrimmage, his highest total since 2003.

His play on third down was the biggest factor for Cassel. The young quarterback always knew he had a security blanket in Faulk, and if the deeper route wasn’t available, he could check down for a screen pass and still gain substantial yardage. Faulk also had no fumbles for the first time in his ten-year career.

Needless to say, Cassel doesn’t have nearly the multitude of weapons he had in New England.

Although Dwayne Bowe is certainly a nice option in the passing game, his ability isn’t quite that of a player like Randy Moss yet. He could develop into an incredible threat down the stretch, and Cassel and he could gain rapport, but I wouldn’t expect Bowe to be setting any records.

Larry Johnson’s best years are probably behind him, and he’s constantly battled with off-the-field issues and injuries; he hasn’t started a full season since 2006, when he carried the ball a league-leading 416 times.

His stats look good in his limited time last season, rushing for five scores and putting up 874 rushing yards in just 12 games.

A game-by-game examination reveals that the 400-carry-plague has struck worse than expected. His stats are skewed, having carried the rock 28 times for 198 yards and two scores in just one game against the lowly Denver Broncos defense, and 24 times for 121 yards against the 25th-ranked Atlanta Falcons rush defense.

To put that into perspective, that's over 36 percent of his yardage in only 16 percent of the games he played in, on only 26 percent of his total carries for the season. Skewed, much?

That may not even matter; as per Todd Haley’s pass-happy system, Cassel will be expected to do a lot more with a lot less than he did in 2008. With the lack of any major free agent acquisitions, this could be tough, but needless to say, Cassel and Haley will both get to prove their mettle next season.

Can Todd Haley Coach This Offense?

Todd Haley compiled a passing attack that ranked second in the NFL only to the New Orleans Saints.

With only one true weapon at wide receiver in Dwayne Bowe, and a "sophomore" quarterback in Matt Cassel, the Chiefs' offense certainly lacks the potency that Arizona’s offense had, with all those receivers and the former MVP quarterback.

The Chiefs could make it work, though, if Todd Haley is willing to adjust his coaching style. He’s an offensive-minded coach who truly understands quarterbacks, having worked as the coordinator to that high-powered Arizona Cardinals attack that consisted of Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin.

Haley, like Cassel, won’t have the firepower that he possessed on his former team.

As mentioned earlier, none of the players in Kansas City are as polished and well-rounded as the bevy of talent in Arizona, but the knowledge he gained from coaching those two talented and towering wide receivers will work wonders for the future of his offensive attack.

He also learned a lot from coaching former MVP quarterback Kurt Warner, and can use that to his advantage in coaching up Matt Cassel into a star and a strong team leader.

The heralded character of New England’s staff last season was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Josh McDaniels, who was credited for the grooming of Cassel into a solid starter week in and week out.

If Haley can follow up on the mentoring given to Cassel by Josh McDaniels, the makings are here for a great quarterback-head coach relationship.

Do The Chiefs Have a Dominant Offensive Line?

Even with a monstrous offensive line, Matt Cassel was sacked a league-leading 47 times last season.

Interestingly enough, the Chiefs only gave up 37 sacks in 2008, compared to New England’s whopping total of 48. The Chiefs also attempted more passes.

This could possibly be attributed to the Patriots’ line melting down, but also to Cassel’s inability to make quick decisions; he also lacks the quick release that Tom Brady had.

With that in mind, the lack of a “dominant” offensive line may not be such a drastic change for Cassel, after all. Of course, Cassel’s release and decision making both improved considerably over the course of the 2008 season, but he will need to improve even further over the course of the offseason work-outs and training camp.

The Patriots are typically known for their textbook pass blocking, but for some reason they weren’t firing off on all cylinders last season like they have in the past. That reason very likely could have been Matt Cassel and his poor timing and rhythm.

If last year’s first round pick Branden Albert can come on strong in his sophomore stint, he could be a good or great left tackle for Matt Cassel (of course, not better than Matt Light, but

They added free agent guard Mike Goff, formerly a blocker for LaDainian Tomlinson of the division rival San Diego Chargers. He has always been seen as more solid in the running game, though, and doesn’t offer much help against speedy interior rushers.

My Conclusion

To put it quite bluntly, the pieces aren’t already put into place around Cassel to make his transition any easier; now, with a year of experience under his belt, Cassel will be expected to make things happen on his own, with far less resources than he had in New England.

It’s not entirely impossible for the Chiefs to be yet another example of a worst-to-first scenario, but if they don’t make first, I’d at least expect a dramatic improvement over last year with the now-NFL-experienced Matt Cassel at the helm.

Though Matt Cassel’s is the kind of story that can make anyone smile, it’s what the future holds for him in Kansas City that will ultimately decide his legacy as either a one-hit wonder in New England or a rising star whose journey, like Tom Brady’s, began by chance.