Outsider's Take on the Cutler Saga

Hello everyone- I've never really posted here before, but for some reason or another I feel compelled to chime in on the events that are transpiring in Devner.  As you can tell by my name i'm a huge Gators fan, and I follow the Dolphins in the NFL.  That being said, I have been a lurker on this site for a while for a few reasons.  I did spend several pleasant years in Colorado Springs during the Elway years, and I have a lot of fond memories of going to games to see your team, and I try to at least keep up with the news.  You also have a TON of great contributers here, who write very knowledgable and informative posts about football in general. 

I know 99% of the people on this site are not going to care about what I write at all, and the rest of you are only going to care insomuch as you think that I am an idiot.  Either way, its the offseason, and I'm bored- so here it goes.

From a (mostly) unbiased outsiders view, I think that a lot of the fans here are looking a gift horse in the mouth with Cutler. 

As a Dolphins fan, I see you guys as having been a bit spoiled.  You enjoyed a relatively rare period of stability with Shanahan as your coach.  Even your "lean years" for QB after your hall of famer left were not that bad- we both suffered through Brian Griese- and then you had Jake Plummer, and the man himself, Cutler.   Compare that to the Dolphins who have seen a staggering 13 quarterbacks start games since Marino's last season- each one worse than the last until Pennington came along.  Not to mention 5 different head coaches. 

As a fan, suffering through all of this has taught me two things.  #1) If you have even an above average QB, KEEP HIM unless you have a sure thing to replace him.  #2) Coaches do not always know what is best for the team- even in their supposed area of expertise.  Take Cam Cameron, supposed (and maybe actual) offensive genius.  He fielded some very good offenses in San Diego.  He even picked up after us in Baltimore and did decently.  But when he was here?  We had one of the most atrocious offenses on the planet.  Maybe having Drew Brees as your QB, and LaDanian Tomlinson had something to do with his genius? I couldn't tell you for certain, but when he was here, he certainly couldn't make something out of nothing. 

Of Course, McDaniels is famed for being the guiding hand behind the recording breaking Patriot's 2007 season, and then following it up with an 11 win season with a QB who hadn't started since highschool. 

However, consider it this way.  If McDaniels isn't there in 2007- how many TDs do you think Brady still throws for?  Was his coaching the missing peice?  Or was it having Wes Welker, Randy Moss, and Tom Brady all having been in an offense for enough time to be comfortable and establish a repoire?  I personally think that was a much bigger peice of the puzzle.  As for Cassel- did McDaniels do something any other coach couldn't have done- especially considering he had the mad genius Bill Belichick behind him?  The guy had years learning the system, and 2 all pro wide receivers to throw to.  I don't know how many of you are familiar with the 'Air Yards" statistic being tracked over at Advanced NFL Stats, but I suggest checking it out.  Cassel had quite a bit of heavy lifting done for him by his receivers.  57% of his yards were YAC, the highest percentage in the NFL.  That's the Pats system you say?  In 2007, Brady had only 42% of his yards as YAC.

Really, I am starting to see a trend emerge for former Belichick assistants- and one that is probably immensely disappointing to their mentor.  That is a trend of inflexibility.  Does anyone here remember when Mangini took over the Jets?  One of his most famous moves was to force a 3-4 defense onto a personnel group that was set up for a 4-3.  Compare that to Belichick mentor Bill Parcells in Dallas who took several seasons to fully convert his defense until he had the proper players on the roster.  I see another Eric Mangini at work here on your offense.

This article from yesterday made the point that the Patriots offense was influenced by Urban Meyer.  I can tell you this is absolutely true.  Belichick is a fixture in Gainesville during the offseason.  Last year he joined Meyer at the basketball games, and Meyer was seen sporting Pats gear on a mission trip.  I've seen UF Plays in Foxborough, and Patriots Plays in Gainesville. 

From I've seen so far, don't expect any Meyer or Patriot like results from McDaniels.  Truth is, there is no 'Meyer Offense' or 'Patriot Offense'.  SlowWhiteGuy's comment in the article of "what works" is exactly right.  Meyer and Belichick are so successful because of their flexibility.  They play to the strengths of their players, and avoid their weakpoints.  If you look at the Gator's offense with Chris Leak in 2006, it is totally different from the Tebow offense of 2007, which in itself is totally different from the offense of 2008.  With the Patriots, they definitely didn't run the same offense with Cassel as they did with Brady.  In short, they don't force a system onto players, they mold the system to fit the team they have.

To me, McDaniels making a play for Cassel demonstrates the complete opposite of this flexible philosophy.  Instead of adapting his schemes to take advantage of a superior tool in Cutler, he instead fealt compelled to make a play for a guy who would have a better foundation in the offense in the short term- but is far more limited in the long term. To me, it comes across as a grab for a security blanket.

As far as calling Cutler a 'crybaby'- have any of you tried to put yourself in his shoes?  I know- the NFL is a business.  But I work for a business too.  Say I am an in demand employee who could find work at any company in my industry.  For one reason or another, my boss at my company was replaced- and his successor tried to ship me out in favor of one of his mid level managers at his old company.   I can guarantee you my resume would be out to 10 different companies the next day.  The business works both ways, and if I am made to feel disposable, it is only human nature that I try to go to a situation that is more stable.  It is a business for your team, but its also a business for the players, and they have every right, IMO, to act as such.

And all this talk about how he is a liar, the coaching staff was trying to make nice, and spoiled old Jay just wouldn't talk?  OK- Cutler is not a saint in this, but why would anyone take the word of the team at face value either?  They are also pushing an agenda and are putting their own slant on the story. 

At the beginning of the coaching search we got this:

“I talked to (QB) Jay Cutler, and Jay understood the conversation. I talked to him this morning. I didn’t get any negative feedback. I think he understands enough about the business of football, the game of football, that there are going to be coaching changes and changes in organizations. I didn’t sense that Jay had any negative feelings about it, and I’m sure he is very interested in who is going to be the next head coach. Obviously, he is the man around here now, so I will be talking with Jay.” (emphasis added)

And now we here "Oh, I don't remember talking to Jay".  I also read a refutation of Cutler saying he didn't get any calls that said the owner doesn't talk directly to the players- he uses the GM or an assistant for that.  But he clearly stated he DOES talk to him.  So which is it?  They are both telling their own version of the truth- I can't see how you give more credence to the teams over Cutler's though.  When you hear Cutler say, " I never asked for a trade" before this, take it with a grain of salt.  But if you hear the team say, "We didn't start this, he asked to be traded"- take it with the same grain of salt.

What it really boils down to is this though:  back in January, TheSportsGuru wrote this article stating his desire to leave well enough alone with the offense, and fix the defense.  What has changed since then?  I would have been much more worried about where my hulking, yet athletic nose tackle is going to come from instead of how I need to replace my probowl QB. 

Thats the end of my rant, feel free to insult me below.