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QB Jay Cutler, Denver Broncos

HT: 6-4, WT: 225, Born: 4-29-1983, College: Vanderbilt, Drafted: Round 1, Pick 11

2008 Projections

2007 Game Summaries

Week 1 - Cutler threw for a career high 304 yards, completed 23 of 39 passes and staged a late fourth quarter come back to win the game. His only touchdown pass went to second year wide out Brandon Marshall in the third quarter. It was a perfect fade pass near the back corner of the end zone that the 6'4" receiver was able to grab over the shorter CB. He played well enough to lead his team to a victory but he clearly is still a young quarterback. He made several mistakes that could have been very costly. Late in the game, he desperately pitched the ball to RB Selvin Young. With the live ball on the ground, Young made a fantastic play to bat the ball out of bounds. Young drew a penalty for it, but saved possession of the ball. With the game on the line, Cutler was able to lead his team down the field and just barely set up Jason Elam for the game winning field goal before time expired.

Week 2 - Cutler went 23 of 33 for 269 yards. He threw one touchdown, and two interceptions, though one was on a ball tipped at the line. The second interception was on a bad read against a zone coverage where Javon Walker fell down, however the ball likely would have been picked off either way. Much of his success through the air came on play action. He appears to be developing a nice chemistry with second year receiver Brandon Marshall to go along with already having complete comfort with Javon Walker. He has confidence that either player will come down with the tough catch in traffic. He showcased a strong arm, but did not take many deep shots downfield. Cutler is a good athlete, and can buy himself time in the pocket with his legs. He does not look to tuck the ball and run with it though. He fumbled the ball once, but was able to recover it himself.

Week 3 - Cutler played well and despite not having many chances, especially in the first half, ended with respectable numbers. Although he did not have much of a running game, he showed confidence in his ability to make big throws and did so in a variety of ways, whether standing tall in the pocket or on the run to escape pas rush pressure. Broncos coach Mike Shanahan showed confidence in Cutler by not punting on a fourth and six play from his own nine yard line and calling a pass play with enough time remaining in the game where he could have given his defense a chance to stop Jacksonville and get the ball back, Cutler threw a strike to Daniel Graham but Graham dropped the pass to effectively end the game.

Week 4 - Without Javon Walker as a receiving threat, Cutler only had one deep pass attempt, a broken play incompletion towards Brandon Stokley. Cutler had two turnovers to go with his two touchdowns. One score was a seven yard pass to Brandon Marshall, the other a one yard QB sneak. While only in his second season, Cutler looked a little uncomfortable in the pocket, and was quick to check down on most passing plays.

Week 5 - If nothing else, Jay Cutler really impressed announcer Phil Simms with his throwing strength. At one point, Simms made the comment that as far as throwing arms go by NFL standards, there's Brett Favre and then there's Jay Cutler. Indeed, Cutler did appear to demonstrate rather incredible arm strength at various points. The problem for him is that it often made his passes somewhat uncatchable. There were times where he seemed a little too overzealous to zip a pass into a tight space and/or a receiver didn't have enough time to get set in his route before the ball was upon him. Cutler played well enough in the first half, stepping up in the pocket and making some big throws (it helped that he had a lot of time as well), but he made a couple of decisions to remind everyone that he is still a second year quarterback. One pass in particular was a deep ball near the end zone that was easily intercepted by S Marlon McCree, the third turnover of the game for the Broncos. It was one of the only times he actually managed to give his owners any hope that he was even going to score, as San Diego spent much of the game containing Denver from completing the big gains. Cutler did throw a pass over the middle to RB Selvin Young for a sure first down and possible touchdown midway through the second quarter, but Young dropped the ball. The only other time Cutler was close to scoring was late in the game when Brian Clark slipped in the end zone on a pass headed in his direction. Perhaps out of good leadership or perhaps out of immaturity, Cutler immediately began screaming at Clark for slipping on the wet field surface (it had begun raining shortly before that).

Week 7 - Cutler had his best game yet as a professional, despite throwing two interceptions. He showed his strong arm, quick release, accuracy, elusiveness, and determination throughout the game. Cutler's three touchdowns were spread among the three offensive receiving positions: wide receiver Brandon Stokley, running back Cecil Sapp, and tight end Tony Scheffler. His favorite targets were Brandon Marshall, Stokley and Scheffler. The two interceptions Cutler threw should have never been thrown; they were examples of a young quarterback placing too much faith in his arm. His performance down the stretch was clutch, as he calmly and efficiently led his offense down the field with only 90 seconds remaining in the game for Jason Elam's victorious field goal kick. Overall, it was Cutler's best fantasy performance of the 2007 season.

Week 8 - Cutler looked sharp early, on marching the Broncos' offense down the field on their second and third drives of the game. On his second series touchdown throw, he bootlegged out to his left and hit TE Tony Scheffler on the five yard scoring toss. On that drive he was four for five for 47 yards. On Denver's very next series, he led the offense down to the Green Bay one but turned the ball over after a pulling offensive lineman knocked the ball out of Cutler's hands as he pulled away from the center.

In the second half, Cutler racked up 152 yards through the air and had Denver in a position to win the game as the fourth quarter wound down. On the final drive, he went four for six for 65 yards and got the Broncos' offense to the Green Bay four yard line with 25 seconds remaining. On the final two plays of the series, Cutler threw incomplete to WR Brandon Marshall in the end zone and then got stopped for a zero yard gain on a rushing attempt. As a result, Denver had to settle for the game tying field goal.

Week 9 - Cutler was injured on a second quarter sack. On the play, Cutler's lower left leg was sandwiched by two Lions. Cutler was able to walk off the field, but went to the locker room for x-rays. The x-rays were negative and Cutler's injury was called a leg contusion. He was standing on the sideline in the second half, but did not return to the game. Prior to his injury, Cutler completed three of his four passes for 20 yards.

Week 10 - Cutler started at quarterback despite having struggled during the week with a leg injury. He provided adequate statistics passing for 192 yards while completing 17 out of 29 passes. He had one interception to go with his one touchdown pass. While not an exciting outing, he provided enough to lead the Broncos to a needed divisional win. He briefly left the contest after coming up limping following a minor encounter with the Chiefs' Jared Allen. He came back soon demonstrating no ill effects.

Week 11 - Cutler has a very efficient game throwing the football. He hit both his starting wide receivers, Brandon Stokley and Brandon Marshall, for touchdowns. Both were solid throws that the receiver caught and then made good open field moves to race pass the defense for the score. Cutler showed great accuracy and power on his throws, and failed to throw an interception for only the third time this season. Marshall was his preferred target, with Stokley and tight end Tony Scheffler right behind.

Week 12 - Cutler finished with a 74.9 passer rating by averaging 9.7 yards per passing attempt despite completing just 55% of his passes. Cutler accumulated most of the yardage in the second half, aided by a 68 yard touchdown catch by Brandon Marshall and a 65 yard scamper by Andre Hall.

Week 13 - Cutler was mostly erratic in this game. He completed only 50 percent of his passes and often missed his mark. Cutler had two passes intercepted. The first was the result of a bad decision as Cutler tried to force a pass to Javon Walker in heavy coverage. The second interception came on a low throw intended for Brandon Marshall along the right sideline. Cutler has the reputation of getting lazy with his footwork and at times and was guilty of that offense on this occasion, as he did not fully step into the pass. The result was a low throw on a ball when a high pass would have been better suited to take advantage of Marshall's significant height advantage. Fabian Washington made a good play to grab the low throw.

Cutler is not afraid to run the ball when the times call for it. He ran five times for nine yards, including a tough two yard gain on a third down and one. (He also had a kneel-down for no gain to end the game.) Cutler was credited with a lost fumble when he and Travis Henry bobbled an attempted handoff.

Week 14 - Cutler who was coming off a dismal showing in his previous game produced his best game of the year. He had a quarterback rating of over 140, while completing 20 out of 27 passes for 244 yards and four touchdowns. He added 22 yards scrambling.

Week 15 - Cutler was able to lead his offense on some effective long drives, unfortunately, they seemed to peter out toward the end. Two potential touchdown passes to WR Brandon Marshall and one end zone pass to TE Tony Scheffler were broken up. Marshall also dropped a low pass a few yards outside of the end zone. Cutler was also nearly picked off numerous times because of bad decision making. Houston's defensive backs were able to make plays on a handful of balls that likely should have been interceptions but fortunately for Cutler were either dropped or merely deflected. The Texans' defensive line kept pressure on Cutler throughout the game. The young quarterback's inexperience may have prevented the Broncos from making the match-up more competitive as they were forced to settle for field goals on two drives and turned the ball over on downs three times.

Week 16 - Cutler had one of his worst games as a pro. Facing a relentless San Diego pass rush, he turned the ball over three times (all three as Denver was in the midst of a possible scoring drive), and the first came on the opening possession and really set the tone for the rest of the game. He couldn't get comfortable, and the San Diego players seemed to suggest after the game that Cutler just lost focus and stopped reading the defenses. If he's making bad reads, that's one thing. But if he's just not trying to make his reads, that is not a very good sign. Either way, the Chargers continuously had his number. By the end of the game, Cutler was on the field shouting back and forth with Chargers QB Philip Rivers. There was no reason for either player to be mixed up in such extra curricular activities, but even less so for Cutler, whose team was getting trounced by twenty points. This was a case where the stats truly do tell the story (four sacks, three turnovers, less than 50% completion percentage, zero touchdowns). That's pretty much all you need to know about his performance.

Week 17 - Cutler played extremely well. He attacked the Viking corners. Cutler also used the short passing game to supplement the running game. Many of his passes were quick passes to his receivers at the line of scrimmage. Cutler also had a nice couple of lead blocks on Brandon Marshall's runs. Cutler played mistake free ball the whole game.