Posts tagged JayCutler at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

As we get some distance from the 2006 draft, it seems like the best quarterback among those selected in the first round was the one taken last. The Broncos traded up to grab Jay Cutler with the 11th-overall selection, and through two seasons, he's progressed more than Vince Young (No. 3) and Matt Leinart (No. 10) combined.

Of course, it's probably unfair to lump Leinart in with Young; all it does is bring Young down. Leinart has battled injures and inconsistency during his short NFL career, and although he's sorta been named the starter for 2008, CBSSports.com's Clark Judge thinks it would be a huge mistake to not give the job to Kurt Warner.

[H]ere's why: The Cardinals have -- I can't believe I'm writing this -- a chance to compete for a division title this season, and Kurt Warner gives them their best chance. He's accurate. He's productive. He's poised. Best of all, he's proven. ...

Now let's make one thing clear before moving on: This is not an indictment of Leinart. I liked the guy at Southern California, and I still believe he can have a productive career with Arizona. But there have been a couple of ... how should we put this? ... detours along the way that make you wonder if he's ready to take over.

Well, it kinda is. When you suggest replacing a former first-rounder three years into his career with a guy who's career peaked early this decade, I think that qualifies as an indictment of Leinart.

When Jay Cutler went public with his diabetes diagnosis last week, perhaps the most surprising thing was how little the disease, which caused him to lose 30 pounds during the 2007 season, affected his play. He ranked 12th in quarterback rating, threw for nearly 3500 yards and didn't have any difficulties that you wouldn't ascribe to a starter in his first full season under center.

As odd as it sounds, the diabetes diagnosis makes you feel better about Cutler's long-term prospects. He's clearly a good quarterback and now he'll be vigilant about his diet, mindful of his health and will avoid the kind of physical breakdown he went through last season. For some reason, though, Bernie Linicome of the Rocky Mountain News chooses to focus on the negatives.

Cutler is now identified by his disease, and will be until success reorders things. It is difficult enough to play quarterback in the NFL without the added weight Cutler will be forced to carry, not just the concern of diabetes and managing it, but the peripherals that come with the label.

Linicome then goes on to list athletes like Lance Armstrong, Billie Jean King and Alonzo Mourning who thrived athletically despite battling physical maladies. Those struggles are part of their story, no doubt, but not their entire story. It's for feature writers to fawn over if they succeed and, judging by Linicome, use as reason to tear them down if they fail.

When last season ended Jay Cutler weighed in at 202 pounds, 32 pounds lighter than when the campaign began. He had no explanation for the rapid weight loss so when the the games were finished he set out to find out the reason.

The quarterback was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes recently and has started taking the insulin shots he'll need to stay healthy.

"(It) definitely affected my game . . . but now we know, now we can deal with it," Cutler said in the interview, saying when he returned to the team's complex to begin offseason workouts he thought "something's not right, I'm losing all this weight, I have no strength, I can't run very much, I can't lift at all. Luckily, we figured out what it was."

The Broncos are quite confident in Cutler's long-term health. They knew of the diagnosis before last weekend's draft but didn't select a quarterback. He'll need daily doses of insulin and a closely monitored diet but several elite athletes have competed and succeeded with Type 1, or juvenile, diabetes in the past.

If Cutler wants to find out more about playing quarterback and living with diabetes, he may give Wade Wilson, the Cowboys assistant and former quarterback, a call. Wilson was also diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes during his playing career.

Former Broncos quarterback John Elway has weighed in on current Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler taking teammate Brandon Marshall to task for always seeming to get into off-field trouble.

And although some have interpreted Elway's comments as critical of Cutler, the main message I take away from them is that Elway thinks Cutler is providing the kind of leadership that will make the Broncos better. This is the key quote:

"I was also impressed with the fact that it means something to him enough to come out and say something about it, which I think is something the Broncos need," Elway said.

Elway also said that when he first learned of Cutler's comments, "I was surprised to hear it, actually," and that "I've tried to settle things in the press, and looking back over the years that's not the right way to do it." But overall Elway seems to think Cutler is developing into a leader, and that's what the Broncos need.

Say what you want about Jay Cutler's (perceived) hillbilly sensibilities, the guy makes a good point: Brandon Marshall is a jackass. Okay, those are my words, not his, but if you're too lazy to read his comments, that's basically what it boils down too.

If you have the attention span of something more than a gnat, here's exactly what Cutler said: "Yeah, he's not my favorite person right now," Cutler said. "I mean, I support him, but it's always something with him right now."

Cutler's referring to Marshall's recent losing battle to a Mickey Ds wrapper and a plasma teevee. As FanHouse's Josh Alper pointed out last week, whatever Marshall's story, this latest episode doesn't do much "to improve [his] already shaky history with responsibility."

In addition to the shiny new cast he now sports, Marshall also has a court date for a DUI. Still, he wants you to know: He's not a bad guy.

Bad guy or not, Cutler isn't impressed:

"We're going to be fine. I'm not that overly concerned about it, but it just would be nice coming into our third year, coming off a big year he had last year, for him to get more work done and get more time in and just a little more trust out there," Cutler said. "But it's going to take some time now, maybe training camp, maybe even longer."

Under most other circumstances, there might be some consternation that a third-year quarterback is calling out teammates in the media. But I don't think you'll find many people outside of Marshall's immediately family objecting here. Cutler's exactly right (and Marshall's exactly wrong) and it's not like the Broncos are so good they can just coast through the off-season.

Hat tip: MDS on PFT

We're 24 hours into an NFL without Brett Favre -- and roughly a quarter of the way through the wall-to-wall-to-wall coverage of the former Packers quarterback -- but part of coping is moving on. Or something.

For Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers now tops of the depth chart and barring a Favre un-retirement announcement -- and let's be honest, nobody would be surprised at this point -- it should stay that way. But with Rodgers now the starter, what does that mean for the Packers playoff chances for next season?

According to two NFL personnel types, Green Bay is in good shape.

The NFC personnel man said he'd take Rodgers over other young quarterbacks such as Cleveland's Derek Anderson, San Francisco's Alex Smith, Arizona's Matt Leinart, Minnesota's Tarvaris Jackson, Buffalo's Trent Edwards and J.P. Losman, the New York Jets' Kellen Clemens, Miami's John Beck and Chicago's Rex Grossman.

The scout said he'd take Denver's Jay Cutler and Tennessee's Vince Young over Rodgers. "He's probably a top-20 guy," the personnel man said. "Why would they be worried about Rodgers? When he's healthy, he's performed in excellent fashion. The problem is he hasn't played to say he's the guy."

The Senior Bowl -- a way for teams to evaluate potential draftees in a game setting -- has come and gone, and now it's time for the NFL Combine, an entirely different beast. Prospects flock to Indianapolis hoping to prove themselves. It's all about measurables, baby. That being said, here's a look at some guys who might raise their profile and, therefore, their paychecks.

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, cornerback, Tennessee State - Leodis McKelvin appears to have claimed the role of best cornerback in the draft, and, a top athlete himself, shouldn't hurt his reputation this week. But Rodgers-Cromartie could push him. At the Senior Bowl he proved himself to be a gamer, and his measurables are damn good as well. Deion Sanders hand-picked him to train together this offseason, and Deion has a good eye for talent -- he also picked Devin Hester in 2006. Rodgers-Cromartie has helped himself more than anyone this offseason, by the time the Combine's done he might be considered in the top half of the first round.

Vernon Gholston, defensive end/linebacker, Ohio State - Even casual draftnicks have probably heard of Gholston (pictured at right), who will most likely be a top 10 pick as is, but the hybrid is currently stuck behind three defensive lineman at the front of the pack. That could very well change this week. Gholston's an absolute freak of nature -- as strong as he is fast -- and I wouldn't be surprised to see him run a 4.5 and shoot near the top of everybody's draft board. Miami runs a 3-4 defense perfect for him, and he'd make a nice eventual replacement for Jason Taylor. Nobody thought Mario Williams had a shot at first overall, and Gholston could very well wind up in the same position.

ESPN's Mel Kiper has been scouting college players for some 25 years now, but the NFL Network's Mike Mayock is probably the best draft analyst on the teevees these days. Mayock had Jay Cutler ranked ahead of Vince Young and Matt Leinart in 2006, and never thought wide receiver Mike Williams would be much of an NFL wide receiver. Kiper was a Leinart guy and ranked Williams as one of the draft's best players in 2005.

The point isn't to call out Kiper, but to show that Mayock's pretty good at what he does. Which makes it kinda surprising that in his initial list of top-20 draft prospects doesn't include Arkansas running back Darren McFadden.

Mayock tells Paul Burmeister that he's just starting looking at the juniors, but he's watched three of McFadden's games and wasn't as impressed as he expected to be. "Great burst, great acceleration, but I don't touch Darren McFadden in the first 20 picks of the draft."

Wow. Obviously, it's still early in the process -- the combine, Pro Days and individual team workouts are all in front of us -- but given Mayock's eye for talent, I wouldn't be surprised if McFadden pulled a "Brady Quinn" come draft day. And who knows, maybe Jerry Jones will get his (rumored) wish after all.

By the way, Kiper currently has McFadden No. 1 on his big board.

Hat tip: Pancake Blocks

As AFC West rivals, the Chargers and Broncos don't like each other. That's not a surprise, really. Especially when you remember Philip Rivers and Jay Cutler jawing at each other during the regular season. Or better yet, when Rivers and Champ Bailey got into it.

Rivers has since earned the reputation as something of a smack-talker even though he claims he's been doing this for as long as he's played football. Whatever, we all kind of forgot about that part of his game after watching his gutsy performance in the AFC conference finals against the Patriots. Even Bailey:

"I couldn't believe he went out there," Bailey said today after the AFC Pro Bowl squad practiced. "I'm very impressed. He's very tough." Bailey in December criticized Rivers as being classless and talking too much after the teams played a Monday night game on Christmas Eve.

Bailey did reiterate his late-season stance concerning Rivers' mouth, telling the San Diego Union-Tribune's Kevin Acee that none of the top quarterbacks he's played against have initiated trash talk the way Rivers does. Still, Bailey said "I'll give him credit where credit is due." I think we could all do without the gum-flapping, but no matter what you think of Rivers (and I've been critical in the past), his effort against New England was impressive.

NFL Offseason Roadmap is a series focused on the needs of NFL teams as they begin the offseason.

How far do the Denver Broncos have to go to return to the playoffs? Their team was ravaged by injuries en route to a 7-9 record this season. A healthy team could have easily won another couple of games and found itself battling for a wild card. A more pessimistic view might point out that they got old in several spots because they haven't built well through the draft. That would indicate there's a longer road back to success. Either way, the good news is that, in Jay Cutler, Brandon Marshall and Elvis Dumervil, they've got building blocks for 2008 and beyond. Here's where they need the most immediate help.

1. Defensive Stability – Jim Bates was hired as defensive coordinator and immediately installed a scheme predicated on big defensive tackles. It was a total flop. Sam Adams and Amon Gordon couldn't occupy blockers, leaving the middle of the field open to all comers. They overhauled the line during the season, but found no better results and that led to Bates's firing. New coordinator Bob Slowik must establish a strategy and stick to it if the team is to improve defensively. Be they big DTs or athletic ones, the team can't afford to veer wildly in such a short amount of time.