ESPN NFL Insider Mike Sando recently released his rankings for all 32 starting quarterbacks in the NFL. These rankings were put together based on a voting panel of 35 league insiders (coaches, evaluators, GMs, etc.) who split the starting QBs into tiers (one through four).
So where did Chicago Bears QB Jay Cutler land? In tier 3 at No. 20 overall, though the negative reactions he elicited suggest a lower opinion.
"I've never seen a guy get paid that much money and see that many people fired around him," one head coach told Sando. "It's incredible. It is never his fault. You could give him a 2, but I'd want him as a backup."
One general manager went so far as to put him in the dreaded fifth tier.
"We might already know everything on him, but there seems to be something about him where you go, 'Let's give him another shot,'" the general manager said.
However, not all of the voters were as down on Cutler.
"I do not think he is the monster everyone has made him out to be," an evaluator said of Cutler. "He does have issues, but can you win with him? Yes. That is why he is a 3, not a 4. If you protect him and get him to get the ball out and have a really good run game, he can be [good enough]. But he will turn it over, and you have to overcome that."
Cutler set career highs in completion percentage (66.0) and touchdown passes (28) last season. But Chicago's offense ranked just 21st in yards per game (327.1) and 23rd in points (19.9). Although Chicago's wide receivers had a fair amount of drops last year, Cutler was marked as an underachiever given the quality offensive talent around him.
It's no secret that Bears general manager Ryan Pace and head coach John Fox aren't thrilled with Cutler as a quarterback. In all likelihood they will try to replace him next year. But they might change their tune if he can have a bounce back year. League insiders don't seem to think that is in the cards, but what do you think?
