Believe it or not, but Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler has been pretty darn solid this season. In nine outings, Cutler has thrown for at least 250 yards six times and for multiple touchdowns four times. Yes, the Bears are only 4-6, but Cutler has been good from a fantasy football perspective.
Though the embattled quarterback only posted eight standard fantasy points against the Denver Broncos in Week 11 (the same defense that shut down Aaron Rodgers), his previous six games had seen him total at least 17 every time. That's not bad at all. Certainly better than the Russell Wilsons and Andrew Lucks of the fantasy world who have failed to meet high expectations.
For those owners with QB troubles who are hoping to make a last minute playoff push, Cutler isn't a bad buy-low trade target. His Week 12 matchup against the Green Bay Packers isn't ideal (he's never posted more than eight fantasy points against them in his career), but it should help to drive down his price and allow you to keep your core players in any potential deals.
"That haggling could pay off with a huge set of upside matchups when Chicago faces San Francisco in Week 13 and Washington in Week 14, two clubs that rank 24th or worse in fantasy points allowed per game to opposing quarterbacks (17.2 for Washington, 18.1 for San Francisco)," ESPN NFL Insider KC Joyner wrote.
"What really could vault Cutler's value up is how impactful he has been of late on stretch vertical passes (targets thrown 20 or more yards downfield). Cutler ranks tied for fourth in stretch vertical yards since Week 6 (386) and only 166 of those yards were passes to Alshon Jeffery. Get Cutler for a low price and it might be one of the most impactful trades a fantasy owners makes all year."
Helping that line of thinking is the fact that Cutler is taking care of the football more than ever this year. He's thrown just six interceptions in 303 pass attempts, or one every 50.5 drop backs. From 2009 to 2014, Cutler threw a pick once every 30 pass attempts. If he can continue to avoid turnovers, there's no reason why he can't take full advantage of the vulnerable defenses on his schedule, especially if starting running back Matt Forte returns for the team's Thanksgiving Day game against the Packers.
