Matt Cassel Fantasy Stock Rising

By Alex V

If you’re looking for an insurance policy for your fantasy team at the quarterback position, look none further than Matt Cassel. The obvious reasons why Cassel could turn out to be a good pickup may be Randy Moss and Wes Welker, and even dump-off pass catching play makers like Kevin Faulk and perhaps even Ben Watson.However, there are three other reasons why I’ll say that Matt Cassel is a good guy to spend a buck on right now.

Number one would be if you’ve drafted one of the more injury-prone quarter backs, like Donovan McNabb, Ben Roethlisberger, or even Jake Delhomme. If you have one of these guys on your team or another like them, Matt Cassel could wind up saving your season.

If you need a little belief, look none further than reason number two! Laurence Maroney, up until the Patriots game against the Chiefs this weekend, has averaged just 13.3 carries per game, and that includes last year when he was the feature back. His numbers are likely to go up with Tom Brady being gone, but he’s more of a scatty flashback type than a work horse so perhaps 16-17 total is most likely. Ergo, Matt Cassel should still average anywhere from 175-225 passing yards per game, and if Maroney can’t punch it in the red zone, then Cassel could get the call, so he could be a great pick up.

The final key reason for joining in the “Cassel Run” is the aging defense of the Patriots. New England’s defensive unit may be slowing down as the season moves along with veterans starters at the linebacker position; Teddy Bruschi, 35, Mike Vrabel, 34, and Adalius Thomas, 31. Even in the secondary where strong safety Rodney Harrison sits at age 35, the burden may be on the defensive line in a 3-4 scheme to create pressure for the majority of the Patriots’ games this season. This should create more situations where the Patriots will be forced to pass, rather than to prefer to pass like last year when going to Tom Brady was the ideal option.

My suggestion… at least don’t sleep on the potential of Matt Cassel. What he lacks in game experience, he could wind up making up for in the privilege of having gotten to watch and learn from one of the greats, in Tom Brady.

Common NFL Defensive Formations

The 3-4 Formation is a common defensive Formation run by many teams. The “3-4″ stands for 3 Down lineman and 4 Defensive Linebackers. Please Note: The Middle Defensive Lineman is referred to as the Nose Tackle instead of the DT (Defensive Tackle) because he lines up on the nose of the offensive center. Nose Tackles are often the largest players on the defense. Chris Jenkins and Casey Hampton are great examples of what a Nose Tackle should be. Several NFL teams which are known for running this package are The Pittsburgh Steelers, The New York Jets, Baltimore Ravens in addition to many others.

This is a very commonly used formation and is the basis for most teams in the NFL’s defensive play books. Teams which have thrived running this defense are The Giants, The Falcons and The Eagles to name a few.

The word “Over” shows us that there has been a shift in the alignment of the Defensive Linebacking core. As your can see in “Over” we see that the OLB shifts to the strong side of the field. How to determine what is the strong side of the field will be discussed in a separate post.

“Under” is the polar opposite of the “Over” formation shift call. Look the linebackers have lined up shifting to the other side of the field. This side is the weak side, however, this will also be augmented with an additional post. Please note: The shifted lineback in both of these formation shifts (”Over”&”Under”) line up closer to the line than they would normally. This will aid in stopping the outside run, holding containment of the running backs (Not letting them get outside), as well as free them up for a Pass rush for a sack(tackling the Quarterback behind the line of scrimmage)

This is a Defensive set that is used primarily in passing situations (E.G. 3rd and 10). We see that one of the Linebackers from the 4-3 defense has been substituted for a member of the defensive secondary(Safeties & Cornerbacks). This new member of the Defense is referred as the Nickelback and that is where this Formation gets its name. Nickel Formation = Nickelback on the field. It’s just that simple. Almost every team in the professional level has this defensive play set.

The Dime, is a very aggressive defense against the pass. It is usually not run in possible rushing situations due to its instability against the run. As you can see only one linebacker remains on the field while the rest of them have been substituted out for additional Cornerbacks. This formation is a long passing situation defense and is utilized by most NFL teams. The better a team’s secondary is the more likely the dime formation will be effective.