Up Close: Chicago Bears Quarterbacks
Published by Bryan Dietzler on February 17, 2010
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
Fans, management and players alike were excited when the Bears acquired Jay Cutler in a trade from the Denver Broncos.
Hopes were high that they would be able to start winning games right away in 2009. It was not meant to be however as both the quarterback and the rest of the team faltered and failed to do a lot of the important things that it takes to win a game.
There is a new sheriff running the offense in Chicago and things promise to be a lot more explosive, now that Mike Martz is handling things on that side of the ball. Cutler should be well suited to the type of offense that Martz likes to run, but the rest of the offensive starters may not be ready for the kinds of changes that they will soon have to undergo to make the new offense work. It will be interesting to see how everyone adapts.
The Bears had two quarterbacks on the active roster during the 2009 season, Cutler and backup Caleb Hanie. Cutler saw a lion’s share of the action, but Hanie did get in a few games that were out of reach.
However, you can’t judge Hanie on such a small sample size. He is still somewhat of a question mark.
Cutler’s accomplishments are well known by many Bears fans. He threw 26 interceptions and 27 touchdown passes in 2009. Cutler’s completion percentage was 60.5 and he threw for 3,666 yards.
There have been many excuses as to why Cutler performed as poorly as he did, including poor route running by receivers, bad play calling and even night blindness, but what it boils down to is that the Bears were not quite prepared to have a quarterback of his caliber in the lineup.
Poor decisions and bad timing marred his first season with the Bears, but hope and help is on the way.
The Bears hired Martz with the intention that he will help Cutler reach and surpass the same level of “greatness” that he experienced while he was in Denver and if he can come close to that, then the Bears will do much better than many expected.
However, will Martz be able to get that out of him?
Does Chicago have enough of a supporting cast to make Cutler “great”? We shall soon find out.
Hanie only got in two games this past season, throwing seven passes and completing three. The biggest knock on him is that he doesn’t have the kind of experience that most coaches like in a backup quarterback.
He only has two years in the league and no real experience beyond some solid preseason efforts, so this begs the question as to whether or not the Bears would think about bringing in a veteran quarterback and dropping Hanie to number three.
Bringing up the rear in the Bears quarterback stable is Brett Basanez.
Basanez does have some experience but isn’t quite as mechanically sound as Hanie is and makes poor decisions. He was brought in last year to compete with Kyle Orton, but as it turned out, he became competition for the second spot behind Cutler and didn’t fare that well. If the Bears decide to bring in a veteran quarterback this offseason, Basanez will probably end up leaving the team.
The Bears have one of the league’s best quarterbacks in Cutler and a lot of people don’t realize it. With a solid supporting cast and the system working for him (and not against him), Cutler could have a breakout season of sorts in Chicago which would help the team and himself out greatly. It will be interesting to watch how well he handles the new offense and how well his supporting cast can help him win games.
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