Pulling On The Net/August 19
Every once in awhile as we go through this 2010 NFL season we will bring to you a selection of items we’ve found on the Internet that are either of interest, or just something well written and worth passing along.
Enjoy.
From Vic Carucci on NFL.com:
In his first year with Kansas City, Cassel was far from impressive, which was consistent with the Chiefs’ 4-12 finish. He went 4-11 in 15 starts and threw for 2,924 yards, 16 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. His passer rating was 69.9. “I think this is a big year for Matt,” Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli said. He was quick to add that it’s a big year for “a lot of players,” but he knows the franchise is under pressure to show significant progress and that it won’t happen unless Cassel plays far better than he did last year.
Pioli also pointed out that Cassel didn’t have as strong a supporting cast in his first season with the Chiefs as he did in 2008 with the Patriots, after he replaced injured starter Tom Brady and became one of the most-coveted available quarterbacks in the league the following offseason. In New England, Cassel was throwing to Randy Moss and Wes Welker. In Kansas City, he had nobody close to that talent level.
“We saw some progress with Matt over the course of (last) season,” said Pioli, who oversaw the Patriots’ player-personnel before becoming the Chiefs’ GM last year. “He had faced some adversity, on different levels, that he hadn’t had to face before. Even though he moved into that spot when Tommy got hurt a couple of years ago, he had some players around him where it made the transition possibly a little bit easier.”
More from Vic on NFL.com:
Wiegmann, who is entering his 15th season, has stressed the importance of rookies being able to distinguish between pain and injury. After all, Wiegmann had suffered a broken foot during a bowl game in his senior year at Iowa and was told he would never play football again. As he was leaving the Chiefs’ training room recently, he noticed a rookie being treated for a sore ankle that had kept him out of practice.
“I turned to him and said, ‘You’ve already missed more time than I’ve missed in 13 years,’ ” Wiegmann recalled. “He just kind of laughed at me and said, ‘Are you serious?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I’m serious.’ ”
From Rick Gosselin of the Dallas Morning News:
So any hope the Chiefs have of improving the pass rush must come from within, which brings us to Studebaker. Primarily a special-teamer in his first two seasons in Kansas City, Studebaker has shown a knack for plays in his limited exposures on defense. As an outside linebacker in the 3-4 scheme, Studebaker intercepted two passes and returned them 96 yards last season. But his college background is as a pass rusher, garnering Little All-America honors at Wheaton College with his 30 career sacks. The Chiefs will need him rushing the passer in 2010, not in coverage.
Read the rest here at Dallasnews.com
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From Scott Cacciola of the Wall Street Journal:
The job requires constant commitment. Mr. Conner said he has never been around anyone who stretches more than Mr. Richardson, who began to practice Bikram Yoga at the start of his career to improve his flexibility. The son of a military man, he has long adhered to rigid self-discipline. “He always did everything right,” said Terry Bowden, who was Mr. Richardson’s coach at Auburn.
Mr. Richardson has a geometric mind for the game, which was evident to Mr. Vermeil during their five seasons together with the Chiefs. Mr. Vermeil said Mr. Richardson had an uncanny ability to anticipate blocking angles. Part of that was the result of experience, but he also leaned on his instincts. His reward for clearing a path for Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson? Three straight Pro Bowls, from 2003 to 2005.
“He could prioritize once the ball was snapped,” Mr. Vermeil said. “He would have a given assignment, but if he sensed something dangerous was happening, he would make adjustments. Any of our great runs by our running backs were directly attributed to Tony cleaning up a defender who was left dangling. And then the running back would go ahead and do something with the play.”
Read the rest here at online.wsj.com
From Bill Williamson of espn.com:
“I knew last year wasn’t going to be easy or fun or smooth or comfortable,” Haley said. “And it lived up to expectations. … But we were building a program and trying to change things. We’re doing it our way.” As a result, Pioli and Haley have seen progress this offseason and so far in camp.
“It’s apples and oranges,” Haley said. “I really like what we’re seeing. We still have a long way to go and we haven’t done anything yet, but we are seeing the pieces come together in this program.”
I read Vic on NFL.com article about Cassell found his take very interesting he brought up points I’ve been saying about Cassell all along. The guy just needs solid supporting cast. Cassell can’t do it alone. I didn’t really watch him in New England but I read and seen highlights of how well he did there. Can he produce the same success here yes if he gets the supporting cast to do so. NFL is the ultimate team sport it takes guys around you to be successful. I think Cassell is putting in all the work to be a great QB. Its up to Pioli to continue to put talent around him to be successful. By no means do I think his season in New England was a fluke.
How well did Moss make Kerry Collins or Aaron Brooks look in Oakland. Or how did Wes Welker make any of the Dolphins QBs look. Heck I don’t even remember who quarterback were in Miami when he was there. The point I’m trying to make is Cassell played apart in there success during that season just as much as those guys made apart in his success. If we can continue to build a strong offensive line around him and add more young receivers this guy can be a pro bowl quarterback. I’m not one of those fans that wait until a guy is successful then joins his bandwagon I look for potential. I see it in Cassell just like I see it in Haley as a head coach. Same with him he’s got all the ingredients to be a great head coach. He’s hard nose tough, humble, very bright football mind because of his family background. And last but not least he has a blueprint pass down by Parcells that he believes in. Same as other Parcells predecessors like Shawn Payton in New Orleans or Bill Bellichick in New England.
Either way I think we have the head coach and quarterback to one day become a Super Bowl winning team its just about putting that team around both guys to have success.
Bob-Thanks for the links to these net stories of interest to Chiefs’ Nation. The story about T Rich adds a lot to what we already know, except who it was in the Chiefs’ brain trust that decided to let him go. The writer’s habit of prefacing each recurring reference to a speaker with “Mr.” was a first for me; found it odd and a bit annoying.
Rich Gosselin is, as Tracy RIngolsby and you are, another KC Star alum now plying their craft elsewhere. Thanks for the link to Gosselin. It must be a case of karma coming full circle as it was Peter King of SI.com whose mention of your website led me here some 500 visits ago.