OVERVIEW

Cassel has been a jack-of-all-trades for the Trojans during his career. The versatile Cassel, who was USC's second-string quarterback earlier in his career and who also had several stints at tight end, switched back to quarterback prior to 2004 fall camp and backed up Matt Leinart there as a senior in 2004. He also played some on special teams.

Cassel was a pitcher on USC's baseball team in the spring of 2004. He suffered a fractured left foot in midseason and was sidelined for several weeks. Overall, he appeared in eight games (starting once), posting an 0-1 record and a 9.35 ERA in 8 2/3 innings of work, with 10 strikeouts and four walks. He also struck out in his only at bat. He was selected in the 36th round of the 2004 draft by the Oakland Athletics. Pitching is sort of a family tradition. His older brother, Jack, is a pitcher in the San Diego Padres organization and his younger brother, Justin, is a sophomore on UC Irvine's baseball team.

In 33 games with the football team, Cassel completed 20 of 33 passes (60.6 percent) for 192 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. He rushed 11 times for 31 yards (2.8 avg), caught one pass for 12 yards and recorded a tackle.

ANALYSIS

Positives: Well-built athlete with quick feet … Has good velocity behind his tosses; able to throw long while on the move … Throws a tight spiral in the short-to-intermediate range … Stays cool under pressure and steps up in the pocket with confidence … Has a good feel inside the pocket and relies on his quickness to get him out of trouble … Shows the football instincts to improvise when the play breaks down.

Positives: Needs to refine his technique getting to his throwing point … Makes the receivers work too much to get to the ball on deep routes … Side-arm slinger who carries the ball too low to his side, resulting in some costly fumbles … Forces the ball into traffic, mostly because of his inability to find his secondary targets as he tends to get "tunnel vision" in going to his primary receiver … Has only a functional command of the offense and marginal field vision … Does not read defenses efficiently, and despite his quickness, he is no danger for a defense as a scrambler … Long tosses tend to float and sail.

INJURY REPORT

2002 -- After the season he had arthroscopic surgery to remove torn cartilage in his knee.

2004 -- Suffered a fractured left foot in midseason with the baseball team and was sidelined for several weeks.

AGILITY

4.9 in the 40-yard dash … 4.08 20-yard shuttle … 7.21 three-cone drill … 34-inch vertical jump … 9-foot-7 broad jump.

HIGH SCHOOL

He was a 1999 SuperPrep All-America selection, PrepStar All-America pick, Tom Lemming Top 100, SuperPrep All-Farwest, Tom Lemming All-West, Long Beach Press-Telegram Best in the West first team, Orange County Register Fab 15 third team, Tacoma News Tribune Western 100, Las Vegas Sun Super 11 second team and All-L.A. City second-team pick as a senior quarterback at Chatsworth (Calif.) High. He completed 137 of 261 passes for 2,020 yards with 14 TDs in 1999, and also ran for 252 yards on 115 carries (2.2 avg) with 11 TDs. In one game, he passed for 324 yards with five TDs. As a junior in 1998, he was named to the Student Sports Junior All-America team, All-L.A. City first team, Los Angeles Times All-Valley, Los Angeles Daily News All-Valley second team and All-League. He hit 199 of 360 passes for 2,930 yards with 26 TDs and seven interceptions as a junior, and also rushed for 496 yards with six scores. Chatsworth won the L.A. City 3-A title in 1998. Also a fine baseball player, he helped Chatsworth to the L.A. City title in 1999 while hitting .390 with three home runs and 29 RBI as a first baseman and third baseman.

PERSONAL

Communications major, earning academic honors … Played on the Northridge team that was a finalist at the 1994 Little League World Series … Was featured in the HBO documentary "Freshman Year," which was filmed at Chatsworth High in 1999-2000 … Older brother, Jack, is a pitcher in the San Diego Padres organization … Younger brother, Justin, is a sophomore on UC Irvine's baseball team … Born May 17, 1982 … Resides in Northridge, Calif.

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