Bears Blitz

Published by Matt Eurich on June 25, 2015
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

Few players in the NFL receive as much scrutiny as Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler does, but he is finally in a perfect situation in Chicago’s offense in 2015.

Cutler forced his way out of Denver back in 2009 because of the hiring of Josh McDaniels as head coach, and the Broncos traded him to the Bears that April. He failed to produce under offensive coordinators Ron Turner, Mike Martz and Mike Tice between 2009 and 2012 in Chicago, and the team opted to hire former NFL offensive coordinator and then-CFL head coach Marc Trestman to help build Cutler back up to what he was in his final year in Denver.

Trestman was hired as the team’s head coach in 2013, and the lauded “quarterback whisperer” was supposed to transform the much-maligned Cutler into a respectable NFL quarterback.

Cutler fought through injuries in 2013 and finished the season with 2,621 passing yards with 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 11 games. It looked like he had bought into Trestman‘s offensive philosophy that season, and the Bears rewarded him with a seven-year, $126.7 million deal in January 2014.

After spending a year in Trestman‘s system, Cutler felt comfortable heading into last season and also felt good about the pieces he had around him.

“We have the same guys we had last year, which is always good,” Cutler said last summer, per Larry Mayer of ChicagoBears.com. “Talent-wise it’s hard to top our O-line and some of the guys we have on the outside and Matt Forte, who is hugely underrated. Talent-wise and being in the system two years and the way the guys work, all that adds up. Hopefully we can stay healthy and see where this thing goes.”

Cutler appeared in 15 games last season and threw for 3,812 yards with a career-high 28 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. He put up some of the best numbers of his career. But he did fumble the football 12 times, and many of his yards came in games in which the Bears were forced to throw the football all over the field because they were trailing big in the second half.

The Bears cleaned house this offseason, firing general manager Phil Emery—as well as Trestman and the majority of his staff—and hired Ryan Pace to be the team’s new general manager and John Fox to be the team’s head coach. 

When Chicago hired Trestman as the team’s head coach, he was excited to work with Cutler, but when Fox was hired, he did not share the same level of enthusiasm. 

“I’m looking forward to seeing Jay face-to-face,” Fox said in January, according to NFL.com’s Chris Wesseling. “We’re going to start that relationship and that process. Doesn’t matter what player here. We’re going to start that process, and I’m not there yet.”

Cutler not having a complete endorsement from Fox could end up being a good thing for the veteran quarterback. The team reportedly shopped him prior to the draft, and Fox is one of the first coaches Cutler has had who has not gone out of his way to shower him with praise. Fox even said the quarterback position is an open competition this offseason.

“It’s all an open competition,” Fox said in March, according to John Mullin of CSNChicago.com. “Obviously you’ve got to start somewhere and my experience in football, really in anything, it’s not where you start a competition; it’s where you finish it.”

For the first time in his career, Cutler has no real ties to the front office or coaching staff. Former general manager Jerry Angelo and former head coach Lovie Smith traded for him in 2009, while the Trestman and Emery regime gave him a contract extension. But Pace and Fox are not tied to the nine-year veteran.

Even though he has not received a ringing endorsement from either the front office or the coaching staff this offseason, Cutler has a chance to have his most successful season in Chicago in 2015 for a couple of different reasons.

 

Coaching Staff

Not long after the Bears hired Fox to be the team’s head coach, they added a pair of highly regarded offensive coaches to the staff, and the NFL Network’s Albert Breer noted the hirings were good news for Cutler: 

Adam Gase is viewed as one of the best young offensive minds in the game, and the MMQB’s Robert Klemko recently tabbed the coordinator as the top coaching prospect in the NFL.

Gase began his NFL coaching career with the Detroit Lions and worked various assistant jobs from 2003 to 2006 until he was named quarterbacks coach in 2007. He spent one season with the San Francisco 49ers in 2008 as an offensive assistant before joining the Denver Broncos staff in 2009 as their wide receivers coach.

He coached receivers in 2009 and 2010 before taking over as the team’s quarterback coach in 2011. He was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2013, and he became a hot head coaching candidate this offseason.

The young coordinator benefited from having Peyton Manning leading the offense in Denver, but he is an intelligent coach who knows how to create mismatches and confusion on offense. Some of Cutler’s best seasons in Chicago came with Martz as his coordinator, and Cutler has likened some of Gase‘s offense to Martz‘s.

“He’s worked with a couple different guys; the good thing is, he’s heard a few things that I say,” Gase said about Cutler earlier this year, according to Mullin. “He’ll look at me and kind of, ‘That’s a little Martz’ist right there’.”

Martz often had Cutler drop back in five- or seven-step drops. But Chicago’s offensive line was abysmal at the time, and he was sacked 85 times during Martz‘s two-year stint as Chicago’s offensive coordinator. Gase will not ask Cutler to use five- or seven-step drops, but he could utilize some of the good things Martz implemented during his time in Chicago.

Martz took away Cutler’s ability to audible at the line of scrimmage, and he was also willing to roll the athletic quarterback out of the pocket. Trestman gave Cutler the flexibility to audible at the line of scrimmage, but he often limited Cutler’s ability to freelance outside the pocket.

If Gase can adhere to some of Martz‘s principles while also instilling some of the schemes and philosophies that he had success with in Denver, Cutler could have one of his best seasons in 2015.

Cutler has been working with Gase for only a couple of months, but he feels comfortable with the young coordinator, saying, according to Jeff Dickerson of ESPN.com:

[My relationship with Gase] has been good. A lot of communication because we are trying to hit the fast-forward button in this a little bit. I’ve been reaching out to him, and he’s been reaching out to me. Just trying to go through reps on the field and talk about it as much as we can off the field so that we can play the play a few times and then move on to the next one.

In addition to feeling comfortable with Gase, new quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains is someone Cutler lobbied for back in 2012.

“Loggains is being touted by Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, and Bears coach Lovie Smith has been making calls inquiring about the 31-year-old coach, according to the source,” wrote ESPN.com’s Jon Greenberg at the time.

The Bears ultimately hired Jeremy Bates to be the team’s quarterbacks coach that year, but Loggains‘ addition this offseason is another reason why Cutler has a chance to succeed.

Loggains was with the Tennessee Titans from 2008 to 2013 and spent last season in Cleveland as the Browns‘ quarterbacks coach. Since Cutler wanted to work with Loggains in the past, his addition this offseason has likely made Cutler feel more comfortable in the team’s new offense.

After the team held its first voluntary minicamp prior to the draft, Cutler was happy to be working with both Gase and Loggains.

‘‘It’s a joy to work with these guys right now,’’ Cutler said at the time, according to Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times.

There is no way of knowing whether Cutler can be successful in Gase‘s system until he steps out onto the field during the regular season. But the young coordinator has a proven offensive system, and he knows how to get the most out of his players.

Many coaches have tried to fix Cutler in the past, but if Gase can limit Cutler’s control and create mismatches with his receivers, tight ends and running backs in the passing game, Cutler has a chance to finally find success in Chicago.

Not only did the Bears hire a coaching staff who can conceivably get the most out of Cutler, but Pace also added a couple of new players on offense who should help Cutler maximize his potential on the field this season.

 

New Offensive Weapons

Cutler did not have many dynamic weapons on offense when he came to Chicago in 2009, but that all changed in 2012 when Emery traded for wide receiver Brandon Marshall.

Marshall hauled in 118 passes for 1,508 yards with 11 touchdowns in his first season with Cutler in Chicago, and he followed that up with 100 catches, 1,295 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2013. He missed the final three games of the season in 2014, but he still managed to finish the year with 61 catches, 721 yards and eight touchdowns.

Pace decided to trade Marshall to the New York Jets this offseason for a fifth-round pick, but he also added two more playmakers to the roster in veteran receiver Eddie Royal and seventh overall pick Kevin White.

Cutler and Royal played together in Denver back in 2008, and Royal had the best year of his career that season. Royal finished his rookie season with 91 catches for 980 yards with five touchdowns. The veteran receiver has not hauled in more than 62 catches in a season or finished with more than 778 receiving yards since his rookie season with Cutler.

Royal’s addition gives the Bears a proven slot receiver, which is something they have not had since Cutler came to Chicago in 2009. Royal began his career in Denver playing on the outside, but he moved to the slot when he joined the San Diego Chargers in 2012.

“They were great for me because my whole career, I’d always been an outside receiver,” Royal said, according to Nate Atkins of ChicagoFootball.com. “I started in Denver a little bit playing the slot, and I started to kind of figure it out, but in San Diego is when I really got comfortable doing it.”

Even though Royal and Cutler only played one season together, the two have chemistry with each other, and Royal has had nothing but praise for his quarterback this offseason.

“Jay is doing a great job so far,” Royal said, according to Dickerson. “If any of us have a question, we can just turn in and ask him, and he knows it right away. You can really tell that he’s putting in the work.”

In Chicago’s offense, Royal will be able to take over the role Wes Welker previously had in Denver’s offense. Welker’s production dropped off last season because of injuries, but he registered 73 catches for 778 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2013 in Gase‘s offense. 

Royal may not have the same initial burst off the line of scrimmage that Welker once had, but he does have reliable hands and is a crisp route-runner. Royal will not be the first or second option in the passing game, but his addition this offseason gives Cutler a reliable option in the middle of the field.

The Bears drafted White in the first round to replace Marshall and to pair with Alshon Jeffery on the outside this season. Jeffery will be Cutler’s primary target in the passing game, but White’s addition gives the veteran quarterback another playmaker on offense.

After the draft concluded, Pace talked about how White’s addition will help Cutler this season.

‘‘In my mind, we just got Jay another dynamic weapon,’’ Pace said about White, according to Jahns. ‘‘That’s why I’m excited about it. I hope right now he’s fired up because we just gave him another powerful weapon. With this receiving corps, this only adds to Jay’s ability to distribute the ball.’’

White ran a 4.35 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine back in February, and the young receiver’s speed translates to the field. He gives Cutler a receiver who can take the top off the defense with his speed, but he also works well in the middle of the field and makes big plays in the screen game.

He needs to improve his route running, but he has the ability to develop into a playmaker in Gase‘s scheme.

On top of adding two new weapons on offense in Royal and White, Cutler still has playmakers like Jeffery, running back Matt Forte and tight end Martellus Bennett on the roster. 

Cutler has not lived up to his potential in the NFL, but he has a chance to have his most successful season in the league in 2015 because of the coaching staff the Bears have in place and the weapons he now has on offense. 

 

Statistical information courtesy of NFL.com unless otherwise noted. All contract information courtesy of Spotrac.com.

Matt Eurich is a Chicago Bears Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and a member of the Pro Football Writers of America.

Follow @MattEurich.

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