Scouts’ Take: In which we discuss the prosperity of Jay Cutler, the fall of Matt Cassel, and Marble Ryan's ability to tell the future

Each week, our scouts gather to share their observations on the most noteworthy Sunday performances. Unfortunately, after blowing all our savings buying electronics on Black Friday, we had to fire them all. In their place are Black Irish, Marble Ryan, Mr. T, Steve Stevens, and Torry Hallelujah, who let us know what they took away from the Week 12 action.

Mr. T: Can we stop the Matt Cassel bandwagon now that he's played a good defense? Let's not kick Brady out of New England just yet. Cassel looked pretty average this week. Cutler meanwhile, who a bunch of you thought was worse off than Cassel going forward, looked pretty good yesterday against what was supposed to be a tough Jets defense. And Favre sucks, that interception down the left sideline was fucking atrocious.

Steve Stevens: Can we get a breakdown of who actually thought Cassel > Cutler?

Black Irish: I was in the tank for Cassel.

Mr. T: http://rexgrossmanisourquarterback.blogspot.com/2008/11/name-game_25.html

Marble Ryan: The Jets pass D couldn't be that good, considering the difference in Cassel performances between the last Jets game and yesterday's Steelers game.

Mr. T: The whole thing was a debacle yesterday. The second ranked Jets run defense made Peyton Hillis look like everything you hoped Mike Bell would ever be. And the Broncos used a series of screens and short pass plays to take away the Jets 3rd ranked pass rush. It was good game planning by Shana-tan, which makes you wonder how they lost to the Raiders.

Torry Hallelujah: Barring any flight delays, I should see everyone at 8:30 to deliver the eulogy for my 2008 fantasy football season.

Steve Stevens: Torry Hallelujah's second half nosedive is hard to watch...

Mr. T: It's actually pretty easy to watch for the rest of us. We could have a 4 team, 2 playoff spot situation coming up next week...

Marble Ryan: Meanwhile, take a look at what some former residents of Beijing are doing lately. Tom Jones and DeAngelo Williams are like the two best RBs in fantasy right now. Marble Ryan - the pre-eminent football mind of his generation. I will continue to defend the Tom Jones trade because it collected me wins that I wouldn't have gotten starting another QB. But, the DeAngelo for Kevin Smith trade is looking pretty atrocious.

Black Irish: Marble, you should really stay away from Lions running backs. All we heard the past two years was about your bullishness on Kevin Jones, and look how that turned out.

Mr. T: The #2 scoring RB in fantasy football is none other than Thomas Jones. Marble, what was that you were saying 3 weeks ago about you ripping me off in that trade? DeAngelo Williams is the #5 scoring RB. That trade was terrible. How in God's name are you the pre-eminent football mind of your generation if you’re trading away such players?

Marble Ryan: I'm the pre-eminent mind because I drafted those guys. I just had an emergency situation at the QB position that forced me to unload Jones, and I was too impatient to wait around for DeAngelo to pan out. Being impatient has cost me seasons before, but this time it just cost me a little margin of victory.

Mr. T: That's such nonsense because you were down on both guys when you traded them. Drafting them doesn't mean squat if you trade them away so easily. Your pre-eminence holds to all your decision making and that includes trading them away. It also includes what you thought about Kevin Smith, who I don't think will be scoring 4 TDs in a game anytime soon. Here’s a quote from September 9th.

Marble Ryan: I wasn’t going to trade Tom Jones for just anything. Its not like I
wanted to dump him at any cost, I just think he has limited upside – and still
do. He’ll be a solid RB2, but I need some more explosivity in my life.

Marble Ryan: Speaking of Tom Jones, anyone see that piece about his "physique" on NFL Countdown yesterday? That was hands down the gayest moment in ESPN history, easily beating anything that ever happened when they used to show figure skating. I thought Jones was going to start dancing in a thong, which would've gone straight into the Mr. T DVR spank bank.

Mr. T: Thomas Jones vs. SF in Week 14. Mr. T vs. Marble Ryan in Week 14. Just saying...

Mr. T: Btw, can we get a cheer for the Ken Dorsey era in Cleveland starting this weekend at Tennessee? Woo!

Steve Stevens: I don't even think Miami fans should make that "Woo!" His arm strength is embarrassing.

Marble Ryan: Maybe it's a positive for Braylon Edwards - Dorsey's feather-balls should be easier to catch.

Mr. T: I meant woo in terms of the better propositions. Marble’s lock of the week should be betting against Dorsey every week. Although Marble has correctly locked it up the last three weeks. Maybe Michael J. Cox should start getting scared...