PATS THINK CASSEL HAS PLENTY IN RESERVE IN SEVENTH ROUND, NEW ENGLAND TAKES USC BACKUP QUARTERBACK.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

There were two good reasons that Matt Cassel threw just 33 passes during his USC career and spent more time on the field as a tight end, receiver and special-teams grunt than a quarterback:

Matt Leinart and Carson Palmer.

That explains why the New England Patriots thought enough of Cassel, who spent the past four years backing up the Trojans' Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks, to select him Sunday in the seventh round of the NFL Draft.

``I'd be lying if I said I wasn't surprised,'' said Cassel, who completed 10 of 14 passes for 97 yards last season and never threw a touchdown pass in his four seasons. ``I was hoping someone would pick me, but I was anticipating being a free agent. I couldn't be more thrilled right now. I'm ecstatic.''

Cassel was the only USC player drafted Sunday, during the final four rounds of the draft. Among those bypassed were linebacker Matt Grootegoed, safety Jason Leach and guard John Drake - all two-year starters on the back-to-back national-champion teams - along with tight ends Alex Holmes (Harvard-Westlake of Studio City) and Gregg Guenther (Taft of Woodland Hills). Among the other quarterbacks who went undrafted were Oklahoma Heisman winner Jason White and Hawaii's Timmy Chang, the NCAA's all-time leading passer.

If Cassel, who is 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds, was going to forge a professional career, the expectation was it would be in baseball.

That's the sport in which his two brothers - Jack, a pitcher in the Padres' farm system, and Justin, a sophomore pitcher at UC Irvine - excel, and where he made a name by helping Northridge to the Little League World Series title game in 1994.

Cassel bypassed spring football last year to pitch for the Trojans and was chosen by Oakland in the 36th round of last June's major-league draft. He still wasn't ready to give up on football.

``I thought about it, and there was a lot of support (for baseball) by my family and brothers, but I knew I had this passion for football,'' said Cassel, who, like his brothers, starred at Chatsworth High. ``There's something about coming out on the field in front of 90,000 people that you can't substitute in baseball.''

Cassel couldn't see himself as anything but a quarterback, despite the disappointment of being beaten out by Leinart two years ago and nudging from USC coach Pete Carroll to move to tight end, which he did for a while as a junior.

Despite his scant experience, Cassel believes he's well-equipped to keep New England's interest, perhaps winning a spot on the practice squad somewhere behind Tom Brady, Rohan Davey and Chris Redman.

``At one point, it didn't look very promising for my football career, but I'm a believer in working hard,'' Cassel said. ``Everyone's going to have ups and downs, but you have to stick at it. I did that in my career, and this is an unbelievable payout.''

No UCLA players were chosen Saturday, but four were taken Sunday. Running back Manuel White (Valencia High) went to the Redskins in the fourth round; safety Ben Emanuel II went in the fifth round to Carolina, where he'll be reunited with former teammates DeShaun Foster, Mike Seidman and Ricky Manning; and receivers Tab Perry (Cincinnati) and Craig Bragg (Green Bay) went in the sixth.

--Free-agent signings: UCLA cornerback Matt Clark (New Orleans), punter Chris Kluwe (Seattle) and offensive lineman Steven Vieira (Cincinnati) signed as free agents. USC's Holmes signed as a free agent with Miami.

CAPTION(S):

photo, 3 boxes

Photo:

Matt Cassel spent his USC career as Carson Palmer's and Matt Leinart's backup, but that didn't scare away the Patriots.

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

Box:

(1) GRADING THE AFC 

Teams listed alphabetically within division

(2) GRADING THE NFC 

Teams listed alphabetically within division

By Billy Witz, Staff Writer

(3) Local players selected in the 2005 NFL Draft: