Projo Pats Blog

By Mike Tulumello
East Valley Tribune (Mesa, Ariz.)

Matt Cassel, a career backup in college and the pros, is the real deal.

What do you know? The New England Patriots appear to have saved their season with a former seventh-round draft pick, a choice that some teams seem to treat as throwaways.
One Cardinals player is hardly surprised about this.

Quarterback Matt Leinart beat out Cassel to be the starting quarterback at USC in 2003.
He did so, barely, as Leinart tells it: "I won, but I didn't even win convincingly. It was close."

Beyond this, "I had to play well to keep my job."

Before this duo competed, Cassel had the misfortune of having to back up Carson Palmer, Leinart pointed out.

"Carson Palmer is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL," Leinart said.

"I'm not going to talk about myself in that way. But I ended up having a pretty good career there.

"The cards never really fell into place for him. But he always did well. He could always play."

Eyes were opened at the pre-draft "pro day" at USC where prospects could show their stuff, Leinart recalled.

"I was there. He was lights out throwing the ball.

"And everyone was saying, 'Who is this guy?' "

Cassel, as Leinart describes him, "has always been a capable player. He's a really good athlete, with a big arm. He can move. And he's smart.

"It's not really a surprise that he's doing what he's doing ... He's playing great. He's going to basically get that team to the playoffs."

 Tags  Arizona Cardinals Matt Cassel Matt Leinart

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