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FOXBORO - At the very least, it may be time for Matt Cassel or Matt Gutierrez to be pondering alternatives.

But might it not also be time for Tom Brady to be looking over his shoulder just a little?

With the selection Sunday of San Diego State quarterback Kevin O'Connell in the third round of the NFL Draft, Patriots' coach Bill Belichick may have let it be known that the future is always under consideration - and the addition of a young, strong-armed quarterback with a high-round draft selection is a reminder that anyone can be replaced if the situation warrants it.

That's not to suggest that Brady, a three-time Super Bowl winner in eight previous seasons, should be worried about his job. But it is an indication that Belichick may not believe that either Cassel, the career backup, or the young and untested Gutierrez have the tools to step up and replace Brady if the 2007 NFL MVP suffers the long-term injury that he has eluded to this point.

None of that seemed to register immediately with O'Connell, who was dazzling at the Indianapolis scouting combine workouts. He knows that when he arrives at Gillette Stadium for the introductory minicamp, he'll be just another rookie with a lot to learn. As far as he's concerned, he has a chance to learn from one of the best.

"I've been watching (Brady) for a long time and kind of studying the way he plays the game and carries himself and leads his teammates," said the native of Carlsbad, Calif. "Not only that, but to play for the coaching staff with Coach (Josh) McDaniels and Coach Belichick, it's going to be the best possible situation for me to grow as a player. All I wanted was an opportunity to grow and come in and learn, and to able to learn from the best, both coaching-wise and the leader of the football team, it's going to be a special experience for me."

O'Connell was so highly regarded at San Diego State, he captained the Aztecs for four seasons, starting with his true freshman season.

"We had a pretty senior-laden team as far as defensive players, but I played through some injuries, some small stuff here and there, and whether we were winning or losing, just to show that never-quit mentality," he said. "I think some of the seniors might have seen that as leadership, but you know what? Over the four years of being a captain I learned a lot about leadership, a lot about dealing with teammates and how to get them to perform at the highest level.

"I was blessed to have a lot of quality teammates at San Diego State, and learned a lot from those guys and the leaders before me," he said.

The 6-foot-5, 225-pounder wowed the scouts in Indianapolis, adding to the luster of having led his team in both passing and rushing in 2007. He's strong and smart, not afraid to put his head down and run for yardage, and can thread the needle with his passes, so it's understandable why he'd be a hot commodity in this year's draft.

But why the Patriots? They already have the gold standard in quarterbacks in the prime of his career.

"I think teams are starting to go back to the three-quarterback, four-quarterback type, bring them into camp and let them compete, as far as guys making each other better," O'Connell said. "But with Tom Brady playing there, they just want to kind of look for a young quarterback that they can maybe take in and groom. They have three very good quarterbacks there already. It's going to be a good opportunity to come in and kind of get my feet wet in the NFL and learn from the best and just to continue to grow as a player and see where I can go from there."

If O'Connell needs a pro role model to make him better, there's probably no better one than Brady, because they share that tough-as-nails makeup that keep them on the field and keep them productive.

"That's one of the great things that makes Tom Brady so special," he said. "I know that watching him over the course of his career, I've been a fan of the way he carries himself throughout the ball game and the way he's able to lead his teammates in comebacks and the late-game heroics are there to be seen. "When adversity hits him, it's almost impossible to see because he doesn't let the play-to-play actions affect him, and he just continues to play at a high level," he said. "That's something that I've tried to emulate, but to be able to be around him on a day-to-day basis and watch everything that he does - from film study to work ethic to dealing with his teammates - is going to be an amazing opportunity for me."