Durkin: The Bears Must Move Jay Cutler Around
By Dan Durkin--
(CBS) The Bears have to move quarterback Jay Cutler -- that is, in the pocket this fall. How much they do may determine if he moves on or not from the organization after the season.
Entering his seventh year in Chicago, Cutler is learning his fifth offense. This season, he's working under the guidance of Adam Gase, the only coordinator in the league to accumulate a combined 10,000 yards and 1,000 points over the past two seasons, which he spent with the Broncos.
One of the biggest strengths that shows up during Gase's time in Denver is tailoring his offense to the strengths of the available talent. Nobody is going to confuse Cutler for Peyton Manning, a surefire, first ballot Hall of Famer. They are as dissimilar as it gets from demeanor to success to style.
One play style that suits Cutler's game is moving the pocket. Frankly, it's something that the previous coordinators he's worked with in Chicago haven't done enough of. Gase appears to be committed to changing course.
"Adam's put a big asterisk on it (moving the pocket) this offseason and going into training camp," Cutler said. "It's something we need to do more. I know Adam likes moving the pocket."
Once again, Gase is showing a willingness to play to the strengths of his key players, but it has to be done relative to what the defense gives you.
"We all know that his athletic ability for a guy his size is pretty unique," Gase said. "There's not a lot of guys like him. We'll try to do what we need to do within a game.
"How the defense is playing, if that calls for five nakeds (bootlegs) a game, great. If it's two, you never know how they're playing. So you have to kind of play off the defense, how they're playing the run game, then you go off of there.
"But his ability to move outside the pocket, we really like what he's done so far and we'll continue to grow that package."
Making this change isn't a panacea for Cutler's ways. He remains a "see it, throw it" passer.
Knowing his arm is strong enough to make any throw to any passing zone on a line, Cutler has a tendency to bypass his reads and stare down his preferred target, even when the coverage suggests the ball should go elsewhere. In turn, defenders to read his eyes, shoulders and hips to take them to the ball, which leads to contested passes and frequent interceptions.
However, by moving the pocket and utilizing boot action, Cutler will have a cleaner view of the field and more simplified reads. Opposed to having to scan the entire field -- which he will still be called upon to do -- he will only have to read half of the field. Furthermore, if the defense is assignment sound in coverage, he will have a run option built-in to take advantage of his under-appreciated running ability.
An effective play-action package is predicated on a commitment to the run game. Judging by the first year in his previous two stops in Carolina and Denver, Chicago coach John Fox will make a concerted effort to run the ball.
In his first year in Carolina in 2002, the Panthers had a run-pass ratio of 47-to-53 percent in 960 offensive plays. That represented an 11 percent jump from their 36-to-64 percent ratio in 2001 on 965 offensive plays.
In his first year in Denver in 2011, the Broncos had a run-pass ratio of 54-to-46 percent on 1,017 plays. That represented a 15 percent jump from their 39-to-61 percent ratio in 2010.
Last season in Chicago, Marc Trestman directed the second-most imbalanced offense in the league. The Bears threw the ball on 65 percent of their offensive plays, trailing only the 3-13 Oakland Raiders, who threw the ball on 66 percent of their plays.
A better balance must be struck this season if the Bears offense wants to maximize Cutler's ability to make big plays off of play-action and score points to protect their vulnerable defense. Everyone on the team recognizes it.
"It's (being balanced on offense) going to help every quarterback across the league," Cutler said. "Everyone at the end of the day wants to have some sort of balance. It gives you friendlier coverages. You're going to see less blitzes. It's going to make your life a little bit easier. Adam's aware of that. I know coach Fox preaches on it as well. It's going to be something in the back of our minds we're always going to be thinking about."
Dan Durkin covers the Bears for CBSChicago.com and is a frequent contributor to 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter at @djdurkin.
