Cutler concerned about O-line: Bears quarterback Jay Cutler says his thumb is healed following offseason surgery after breaking it during the 2011 season. And he certainly gives a thumbs-up to the Bears adding Brandon Marshall via trade and Alshon Jeffery in the draft. But he told the Chicago Sun-Times that his offensive line is still a concern of his. "If Gabe [Carimi] comes back, if J'Marcus [Webb] pans out. Where are we going to put Chris Williams? There are some question marks there," Cutler candidly said. "Until we really get that resolved, and get our front five settled in, we've got some work to do on offense. ... There are going to be times it's 3rd and 8, 3rd and 10, and we're going to have to take seven step drops and we're going to have the longer route and they're going to have to protect." (Updated 05/15/2012)
Injury Report
No information available at this time (Updated 5/27/12).
Fantasy Analysis
Cutler and the Bears know what they have to do: Move the pocket. Several coaches and Cutler himself have talked about using bootleg rollouts on passing plays, something he did in Denver. That keeps defenses on their toes and keeps plays alive. Anything is better than Cutler having to take seven-step drops all the time in Mike Martz's offense, which happened last season. Now he should be able to scamper around and slice up defenses with his arm and his legs. Getting a pair of solid receiving threats will only help him. Without a stud receiver in Chicago, Cutler has averaged 225.8 yards and 1.5 touchdowns per game. Expect that average to go up with the addition of Marshall and Jeffery. Cutler is now worth discussing as a sleeper quarterback worth taking after about a dozen passers go off the board. We'll probably see him taken in Round 8 or 9 in a lot of drafts this summer. (Updated 05/15/2012).
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Jay Cutler's first three seasons in Chicago haven't been anything to write home about (63 touchdowns in 41 games). So why is there optimism for his fourth? The Bears parted ways with offensive coordinator Mike Martz, giving the controls instead to Mike Tice, who promises to create an offense that Cutler can thrive in. The Bears front office backed up Tice on that, acquiring wide receiver Brandon Marshall from the Dolphins and reuniting the former Denver teammates. They also brought in ex-Broncos assistant Jeremy Bates to coach up Cutler. Addressing the offensive line further will help Cutler, too. Whether or not these moves pay off remain to be seen, but there's optimism he could put up some big numbers thanks to the Bears' changes. We think Cutler's good enough to start in deeper formats (14-plus teams) and fantastic as a No. 2 quarterback. Expect him to last until the middle-to-late rounds on Draft Day. (Updated 5/24/12)
