The contestants to back up Brady and serve as his someday successor are fourth-year veteran Matt Cassel, second-year man Matt Gutierrez, and rookie third-round pick Kevin O'Connell. Like Brady, they're all California-bred quarterbacks, but that's about all they have in common with Brady at this point.
Cassel, Brady's incumbent understudy, has had his ups and downs.
He played in a career-high six games last season, but the indelible mark Cassel left was being yanked from a blowout win over the Dolphins after he threw a pass that Jason Taylor intercepted and returned for a touchdown.
Gutierrez made the team as an undrafted free agent last year, and like Brady is a San Francisco Bay Area quarterback who went to Michigan and was supplanted by a highly-touted recruit. While Brady stayed at Michigan, Gutierrez transferred to Idaho State. It was in his second year that Brady made a quantum leap and supplanted Drew Bledsoe. Gutierrez won't jump that far, but he could overtake Cassel.
O'Connell, the newcomer out of San Diego State, was a surprise pick, few expecting a team with Brady to use such a high pick (No. 94 overall) on a quarterback. The Carlsbad, Calif., native caught the eye of offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who worked out O'Connell before the draft.
"That group has been great. They've been great to work with," said Patriots coach Bill Belichick. "Matt [Cassel] has had a good camp. He's had a real good offseason. He did a nice job in the spring. [Gutierrez] is as probably as hard a working player as we have on this team. He's worked hard to get better and build off of last year.
"Kevin has made a lot of improvement from the spring . . . He seems a lot more comfortable and confident. He's playing quicker at the line of scrimmage than what he was in the spring."
For Cassel, whose contract is up after this season, this could be a make-or-break year. Like all backups, the 26-year-old yearns to run his own team - he's been a backup since his days at Southern California - but the quickest way into a starting job is to prove you're a better-than-average understudy.
