Mel Kiper Does Not Like Jay Cutler

An interesting out-of-nowhere storyline this NFL offseason has been the drama surrounding the Denver Broncos and their quarterback situation. Just a quick rehash: Apparently the Broncos had discussions about trading Jay Cutler and nabbing Matt Cassel as his replacement. In the aftermath, Cutler's been publicly whining about the potential move. My personal opinion is that Cutler needs to just shut up and turn the page.

Mel Kiper, ESPN's long-time draft "guru" -- in quotes because he misses badly as much as he hits -- definitely agrees with me. He also thinks Cassel is better than Cutler, but that's not why we're here. He seems to have way too much personal disdain built up toward Cutler.

"This guy was overhyped at the combine, he was overhyped at Senior Bowl week, he's been overhyped before he was drafted. The media, they love Jay Cutler. Jay Cutler can do no wrong. I've been saying he's overrated since day one. Everyone's been pounding their chests saying, 'Oh, I love Jay Cutler, I'm a genius.' They have egg on their face now."

Take a step back, Mel, and think about what you are saying, because this is a flat-out comical rant. Comical because it's unbelievably false. The last line is the punchline of this joke. People who liked Cutler coming out of the draft have "egg on their face?" What? He's coming off a Pro Bowl season where he threw for 4,526 yards and 25 touchdown passes. Kiper's argument revolved around the wins and losses, though. You see, the Broncos are only 17-20 in games that Cutler has started. Oh, I get it.

How dare Jay Cutler not play good enough defense to help the Broncos win more games! Seriously, how much can you pin on the quarterback? Only the hapless Rams and Lions allowed more points than the Broncos defense last season. Only the Seahawks, Chiefs and Lions allowed more yardage. That was, if you hear it from Mel, Cutler's fault. He didn't explicitly say it, but he didn't have to. When you point to won-loss record, you are indirectly attributing losses to the quarterback. If you don't want to take that leap, don't use the record as a barometer of how to judge the signal-caller.

How Cutler won eight games with this kind of defensive support is actually a very significant statement about his ability to lead an offense. Look at the teams I mentioned above who had similar defensive output as the Broncos. They all sucked, big-time. The Broncos were a tiebreaker away from the playoffs. Why? Well, only the Saints gained more yards than Denver. Only Kurt Warner and Drew Brees passed for more yards than Cutler. The third-year kid from Vandy also ranked seventh in touchdown passes. I'm going to have to say that he's one of the main reasons Denver even had a shot at the postseason -- as would any fan with a brain.

As if his above comments weren't absurd enough, Kiper compounded them by making an ill-conceived comparison.

Kiper compares Cutler to Jeff George. "Jeff George had a great arm, and Jeff George had a lot of great games in this league, and people were putting Jeff George in the HOF early in his career," Kiper says. "So I'm just telling you, this is ridiculous."

No, Mel, you are being ridiculous. Jay Cutler has played three seasons and started 37 games. Jeff George made 38 starts through his first three seasons. Cutler has racked up 9,024 yards, 54 touchdown passes, and a Pro Bowl in that time. George threw for 7,053 yards and 33 touchdowns in that time, and he didn't even come close to sniffing a Pro Bowl. Cutler's quarterback rating in the same time span is more than 15 points higher, so you really should not be comparing the two. Also, to the comment about "people putting Jeff George in the HOF," I'd like to see some evidence. I lived in Indianapolis at the time, and I can tell you there weren't many more detested sports figures in the area. I was only a middle-schooler, but I can't think of a single media person who was hailing Jeff George as a Hall of Famer after his third season.

I can only assume Kiper is still clouded with bitterness over the 2006 draft. He hated Cutler leading up to the draft, as you can tell from the above quotes. He also loved Matt Leinart. Cutler was picked after Leinart, and he's already proven a far superior NFL quarterback. In fact, if you put this situation in the context of Kiper's monumental throw-down with colleague Todd McShay, it gets even funnier. Kiper was going nuts on McShay because he believed the Lions should draft Matthew Stafford, even if they have him slotted as the eighth best overall player on their board. His rationale? That position is just that important. If the Broncos drafted a Pro Bowl caliber quarterback 11th overall in 2006 -- the third, but best, quarterback taken that year -- and you hated the pick, Mel, who is really the one with egg on his face?

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

3-10-2009 @ 11:04PM

Redskins0492 said...

Interesting read.

Cutler is a stud, and I really hope Washington or Chicago pursues him. I'd trade 2 firsts for this guy.

3-10-2009 @ 11:21PM

GWPreppy said...

Jay Cutler is a whiny little baby. There is a reason why I live in Denver but don't like the Broncos....mainly, it's because of Baby-Jay Cutler. Once he actually puts up, he needs to shut up. Until then, Philip Rivers and anyone else's grandma can make fun of his lazy-eye, stoner, droppy, goofy self.

Message to Jay Cutler: You're not Peyton (or even Eli) Manning, so SHUT UP. If you haven't understood the world of quarterbacking, it's TOUGH, go ask Donovan McNabb, he'll give you pointers about dealing with a hostile environment, but being man enough to prove everyone wrong. Whining and being a little baby about it to your new coach will put you right in line with Vince Young....being benched for someone told enough to be your dad (sorry Kerry Colins).

3-10-2009 @ 11:22PM

Edit: Oh yeah, GO 'SKINS!!!

...we better not be making a push for Baby-Jay Cutler, we have Campbell for now and an eager Colt Brennan waiting, we don't need someone bringing down the locker room.

3-10-2009 @ 11:24PM

ettev6791 said...

hmmmmmm lets see how that PRICK does when he is in another offense. He is very overrated no matter how many passing yards he puts up. I can not wait for him to fall on his face next year after all of this drama that he has caused within this organization. Suck it Cutler NO ONE LIKES YOU!!!!!

3-11-2009 @ 1:04AM

hangerandvacuum said...

He is overrated no matter how many yards he puts up? That makes a lot of sense. What about TDs? Is he overrated no matter how many TDs he puts up?

3-10-2009 @ 11:35PM

cantstopdrinkin said...

You could say the say the same thing about Drew Brees. He should have hands down won the MVP award last season. The Saints had more injuries to starters then any other team in the league last year (and the most i have personally seen on one team throughout a season), he was playing with 3rd adn 4th string WRs and still almost broke the record for most yards in a season, and he repeatedly put his team in position to win and either his defense lost the game because of the HORRIBLE secondary (what else is new) or because the kicker missed an easy field goal after Brees marched down the field. So put all that together and its obvious he was the Most Valuable Player to his team. You take him off that team and the Saints maybe dont even win ONE game last year. Seriously....

3-11-2009 @ 12:21AM

horatiowrd said...

its amazing to me how many ppl rag on the 2006 QB class.

So far Lienhart has been to a Superbowl (even though he didnt play im going to give him some ups cause I its truly a team support and he hasnt bitched once), Vince Young won Rookie of the Year leading his team to Playoffs, Jay Culter leads one of the best offenses in the league.

I just dont get it. I dont consider any of these guys misses. A miss is Joey Harrington or Ryan Leaf, Aklil Smith etc., A miss sets a team back years, Titans, Cardnials, Broncos have not been set back and are right on the cusp, you cant get that way if you completely miss on such a high pick.

3-11-2009 @ 1:10AM

Mel Kiper sounds like a major dbag.

Look at his draft prospects and see how accurate he is. He's no better at it than Boomer or any other long time analyst.

No one can be good at it. There are so many variables that go into a player actually living up their potential in the NFL. He might as well throw darts at a board. Maybe that's what he does.

Cutler has a lot of talent, but he didn't like Shanahan getting fired out of nowhere when he had just talked to Shanahan a few days before about the upcoming season.

Now he hears that the new coach was trying to trade a 4th year pro bowl QB that just came off of a 4,500 yard 25 td season. Of course he was angry. What moron 1st time head coach would trade away a franchise QB that just came off of a 4,500 yard 25 td season?

3-11-2009 @ 1:45AM

A5 said...

Kiper was out of line. Plain and simple. Cutler has shown on the field that he's a positive force for a team looking for wins. He lacks a TE, his running games was sloppy until halfway through the year when Hillis emerged, and always had to play catch-up

600+ attempts and you get sacked only 11 times? Brees and Peyton Manning are the only ones you can compare him to in that regard. Jeff George? Sacked over 100 times in his first three years in the league.

Sure, Cutler threw a lot more interceptions than you want to see, and that constitutes the only major discrepancy between Cutler and Cassel that makes Cutler look inferior. I'm guessing his over-reliance on talented but still inexperienced receivers are a good bet as the most responsible factor

Let's ask ourselves how somebody like Kiper ever came into existence: NOBODY EVER IS VERY SUCCESSFUL AT PREDICTING WHERE PLAYERS GET DRAFTED AND HOW WELL THEY SUCCEED IN THE NFL. If Kiper was above and beyond all other draft analyzers, WOULDN'T A TEAM HIRE HIM FOR BIG MONEY??? Wouldn't any GM or owner jump at the opportunity to hire a guy who has a strangely superior eye for the NFL draft?

Kiper and McShay need to be viewed as just two amongst the masses of individuals who take a stab at analyzing the talent coming out of college.

3-11-2009 @ 7:38AM

captmez said...

Mel kiper is the jerk not Cutler I believe years ago Colts management said Who the Hell is Mel kiper He's some jerk that makes a living trying to make draft picks Cutler will be fine media people like kiper that dont know his head from his a$$ like to stir up trouble so they are always in the news Kiper get a real job Go pump some gas someone

3-11-2009 @ 8:35AM

skins2win said...

I agree with Kiper, this guy is over-hyped and is NOT that great. Comparing himself to Elway last year was unreasonable, then saying that he was better than Elway was idiotic. Jay Cutler needs to learn some humility. The hype has made him the whinning baby that his is now. He has been there for 2 years and done nothing but get a Hall of Fame coach fired.
Way to go Jay.

3-11-2009 @ 8:44AM

Matt Snyder said...

I agree any Elway comparison is moronic, but does that really make him overhyped? He's the one who said it, not anyone else. Being an arrogant jerk doesn't make someone overrated.

Plus, how can you blame Cutler for getting Shanahan fired? The offense wasn't even close to the problem. As outlined in the article, it was the defense that was their undoing.

3-11-2009 @ 9:34AM

If he's as good as he thinks(or better than Elway), then he would have won games regardless. Elway won games on his own will, not that of anyone else around him. Even Tom Brady has been successful year after year without a running game.

3-11-2009 @ 11:19PM

Why do people on here keep acting like he said he was better than elway?

He said specifically that he had "a better arm" as a in stronger arm. He didn't say anything about having better pocket presence or better scrambling skills or being better at handling pressure or anything like that. He only said that he had a stronger arm. Understand?

3-11-2009 @ 10:40AM

A. J. said...

Four out of five football fans agree, Jay Cutler is a tool.

3-11-2009 @ 4:13PM

Elsquare said...

Mel Kiper was a bust as a sports writer/commentator and he is a bust as an NFL draft "expert". ESPN should be embarrassed to have Kiper on the payroll. Matt Cassel, Jay Cutler and Derek Anderson are all very good quarterbacks; BUT, each one of them will need very careful and very thorough coaching in a system that is suited for their particular talents. Matthew has a magnificient arm, and probably enough size (height) to make it in the NFL; BUT, I challenge anyone reading this to publish a true and correct height for Matthew Stafford. This kid's true height is more closely guarded than some of our nuclear secrets. Anyone know Stafford's true height? I didn't think so.

3-11-2009 @ 5:51PM

D_Average said...

Cutler isn't a whiny little baby, he's just constantly pissed off. There's a difference.

3-11-2009 @ 6:03PM

robbinsbi7 said...

Love all you football experts have any of you met or know Jay Cutler? If not get a life

3-11-2009 @ 6:14PM

Sorry, was takin my frustrations out on you, Mel Kiper? a guys who draft boards are 85% wrong every year is gonna pass judgement on someone? don't get it