It's fair to say that Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler is on thin ice with the organization. Despite setting career highs in completion percentage (66.0) and touchdown passes (28) last year, Cutler's propensity for turnovers lingered (18 INTs), and the Bears underachieved on offense. Chicago finished 2014 ranked just 21st in yards-per-game (327.1), 15th in passing offense (237.0) and 23rd in scoring (19.9).
With a new head coach and general manager in John Fox and Ryan Pace, Cutler is no longer the handpicked starter of the regime. There were rumbles earlier this offseason that the new administration would get rid of him before this season. Although that didn't come to pass, it likely didn't inspire a ton of confidence in the QB. However, ESPN's Eric Karabell believes Cutler is headed for a bounce back season that could save his job and make him a viable starting quarterback in fantasy football.
"He's got the ability," Karabell wrote. "And before you mock the choice, Cutler would have finished as fantasy's No. 7 quarterback had he scored 24 points in the one contest he missed. In other words, this was very nearly a top-10 guy, despite the 18 interceptions. Hey, trash-time touchdowns count, too, and they're coming again. Cutler hasn't reached 4,000 passing yards since 2008 in Denver, and he's never thrown 30 touchdown passes. The loss of rookie Kevin White hardly precludes him from doing so at age 32, especially when one realizes how awful Chicago's defense appears. Shootout city, ba-by!"
White's rookie season is likely over before it begins following surgery to repair a stress fracture in his left shin earlier this month. But Cutler still has Alshon Jeffery, Martellus Bennett and Matt Forte to throw to. The Bears likely won't win many games, and Cutler is still going to throw his fair share of interceptions. But as a backup fantasy quarterback with upside, he's not such a bad option.
