You realize that during his last year here, he was a starter, right? Starters don't typically play much in the pre-season. Earlier in his career, he saw much more time in preseason. He had that one huge game vs. the Saints in 2011, then got hurt and was out for a while. He had a good first 5 games in 2012, then just totally disappeared from the gameplan. Coincidentally, that's about the time our offense started sputtering (Jets game). Not even remotely implying causation, though.
Yeah, he was a "starter" as a "fullback"... meaning he got in only about 15-20% of the total plays, with some of those being running plays. He also drops a pass in the end zone of the playoff game against the Patriots, so he couldn't have completely disappeared from every game plan. Again, what does Casey do particularly well to warrant more playing time?
OK? Not sure what point you're trying to make here. Point is, his absence from the preseason late in his career was largely due to the fact he was a 1st unit guy. His role diminished severely. That was pretty evident. And yeah, that drop sucked. Not like he was the only one to make a critical mistake on offense last year though. Far from it, really. Again, it's not what Casey does well (we never really got to find out), it's more about what the rest of our offense wasn't doing well.
What do you think he does well? How would he have solved the main problems of the 2012 Texans offense? (which off the top of my head included poor run blocking/pass protection out of the back-field and on the right side of the line, no dynamic game-breaking WR's, no home-run threat plays period). You don't think coaches see potential contributing factors in all the practices, OTA's, and countless hours of one-on-one time they get with these players? Two different franchises have seen him and have decided to not utilize him... the latter utilizing him even less in a "pass-happy", "offensive juggernaut" system.
If you want me to put my coaching/talent evaluation hat on (not sure why, as I'm just a dude on a message board), I'll tell you that it looked like the run game was beyond repair. Giving Schaub another set of hands on the field (Casey seemed, at worst, the 4th best pass catching option on the team, behind AJ, OD, and AF) seemed like a good idea. Would it have worked? Who knows. Would I have liked to have found out, either way? Yes. Of course, if your lasting image of Casey is the drop versus the Patriots, then your mind is probably made up that he wasn't worth giving time to. That doesn't seem fair to me, but to each his own. Now we're sitting here at 2-4, staring 2-6 in the face, with teams, players, and pundits calling our offense "predictable". Sure seems like something to change the pace would be nice right about now. Casey or otherwise.
So, with all that touted versatility... you're willing to say he's a 3rd or 4th best option as a pass catching TE. And in the end, he got the same opportunity that Garrett Graham got... and Graham showed more versatility in his ability to create mismatches, run routes, and catch balls that he has a legit future as a TE in this league. Not sure what Casey's future is. He's not a fullback, he's not a good blocker, he's not particularly fast/athletic, and he's got below average hands. Not sure he'd be the best candidate to "change the pace".
I'm willing to say that because 1) AJ, OD, and AF are awesome pass catchers and 2) we didn't get to see much of Casey, especially relative to them. Not sure how you take that as some big knock on Casey.
Its not... because I never felt he was as special as everybody here thought he could be. I don't think he does anything particularly well to warrant increased playing time. Its being proven in Philadelphia as well.
Let's just say I'm not shocked that he's being outplayed by Brent Celek (very talented and well established) and Zach Ertz (35th overall pick). Add in the fact that LeSean McCoy is averaging over 5 yards a carry (including representing very well in the passing game) and DeSean Jackson is averaging over 17 yards a catch, and it's no small wonder he's not on the offensive radar. I think it's interesting that they're using him exclusively as a TE, and not in the backfield like Kubiak did.
I don't. He wasn't a good fullback. He couldn't really block anybody, and had the same pass-catching abilities (deficiencies) that made him a below average TE. Kubiak probably envisioned him has a Chris Cooley-lite (a true H-back, created by Joe Gibbs)... but he doesn't really do enough in terms of blocking to be given tons of reps there.
