Jay Cutler (American football)

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Jay Cutler

Jay Cutler on November 19, 2005, leading Vanderbilt to its first win over in-state rival Tennessee since 1982.
Date of birth April 29, 1983
Place of birth Santa Claus, Indiana
Position(s) Quarterback
College Vanderbilt
NFL Draft 2006 / Round 1/ Pick 11
Statistics
Team(s)
2006 – present Denver Broncos

Jay Cutler (born April 29, 1983 in Santa Claus, Indiana, USA) is the rookie starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League as of Week 13 of the 2006 season. He played for the Vanderbilt Commodores from 2002-2005. He is the son of Jack and Sandy Cutler and has two younger sisters.

Contents

[edit] High School career

Jay Cutler attended Heritage Hills High School in Lincoln City, Indiana. There he amassed a combined 26 - 1 record for his junior/senior years, with his senior year being a perfect 15 - 0. Some of his stats that year included 31 touchdowns, a 746 - 85 outscoring over opponents, and a 90 - 0 shutout on the road at Pike Central. He also added to his team's defense by grabbing nine interceptions that year, 12th overall in the state. His team's perfect record that year included the school's first 3A state championship, where Heritage Hills won over Zionsville in overtime, 27 - 24. Cutler caught a pass in the endzone to end the game, after lateraling it to the halfback who then passed it to the open QB. [1]

[edit] College career

While at Vanderbilt, he started in over 40 consecutive games as quarterback and was named Southeastern Conference Offensive Player of the Week and All-SEC several times. For the 2005 season, he earned the SEC Offensive Player of the Year title after completing 273 of 462 attempted passes for 3073 yards and 22 touchdowns. He finished his college career with a total 8697 passing yards.

In 2002, Cutler set the school record for touchdowns and rushing yards by a freshman and rushed for more yards than any other SEC quarterback that year. By 2004, he had achieved high rankings in nearly every category relevant to his position as quarterback. In that year, he completed over 60% of his passes with over 125 attempts, the highest percentage with 125+ attempts that had ever been achieved by a Commodore.

The 2005 season, his final year of play at Vanderbilt, was his most impressive. He led the Commodores to victories over Wake Forest, Arkansas, Mississippi, Richmond, and Tennessee. The Commodores also scored the second most points ever scored against Florida at their current home field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. They nearly upset the 13th-ranked Gators before falling 49-42 in second overtime.

The Commodores ended their season, and Cutler's Vanderbilt career, against the Tennessee Volunteers with a 28-24 win, their first victory over the Volunteers since 1982, the year before Cutler was born. The win also marked Vanderbilt's first victory over Tennessee on the Volunteers' home field in Knoxville since 1975. [2] Cutler's final play in college was the game-winning (and streak-ending) touchdown pass to teammate Earl Bennett.

[edit] NFL Draft

Cutler was expected to be a high draft pick in the NFL Draft, and was ranked by many experts as the third-best quarterback prospect, after Matt Leinart of USC and Vince Young of Texas. Some mock drafts as recent as April 1, 2006, had projected him as being selected ahead of Leinart. Still, other experts such as ESPN's Chris Mortensen and Ron Jaworski tabbed him as the best quarterback available in the draft. Many scouts believe he has better arm strength than either Young or Leinart, but still needs to develop his decision making. At the draft Combine, he completed 23 repetitions of a 225-pound bench press (more than some linemen) and ran a 40-yard dash in 4.77 seconds. [3]

After attracting interest from the Oakland Raiders, Detroit Lions, Arizona Cardinals, and Baltimore Ravens, Cutler was surprisingly selected by the Denver Broncos with the 11th pick in the draft, after the Broncos acquired the pick from the St. Louis Rams for their 15th and 68th overall picks. Cutler said after the draft that "I literally hadn't spoken to Denver in two months." Cutler, as predicted by most, became the third quarterback chosen, after Young (3rd overall) and Leinart (10th). Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young called Cutler the best QB in the draft: "Jay Cutler is the top quarterback because of the fact that he is the best football player.... More than any other player on the board, Jay Cutler is going to come in and be a football player and a great quarterback." [4] He is the 3rd first round pick to come from Vanderbilt, preceded by Will Wolford and Bill Wade. Cutler agreed to terms on a six-year contract on Thursday, July 27, 2006 worth $48 million.

[edit] Professional career

After a strong training camp in 2006, Cutler was promoted from third to second on the Broncos' quarterback depth chart ahead of Bradlee Van Pelt. He played surprisingly well in the 2006 preseason, as rookie quarterbacks tend to struggle in their first few NFL games. He passed for more yards and achieved a higher passer rating (108.3) than fellow rookie starting quarterbacks Vince Young, Matt Leinart, and Bruce Gradkowski in the preseason.

On November 27, 2006, Shanahan officially announced that Cutler would replace Jake Plummer as starting quarterback because "I think he gives us the best chance to win now."[5][6]. This announcement capped weeks of speculation and rumors about Cutler's impending promotion to a starting role.[7]

In Cutler's debut, a 23-20 loss at home to Seattle on December 3, he completed 10 of 21 for 143 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Defensive lineman Darryl Tapp returned the first particularly costly interception for a touchdown. Cutler gained some redemption in the fourth quarter with a 71-yard TD pass to Brandon Marshall, also a rookie, to tie the game 20-20. Arnie Stapleton of the Associated Press (AP) summarized Cutler's performance: "He looked like a raw rookie for most of the night, but did show flashes of brilliance, such as his touchdown pass to Marshall." [8] Shanahan opined, "I think he did pretty good for his first game. I'm a little disappointed in myself. I think we put maybe a little too much in the game plan." [9] [9] Denver Post columnist Woody Paige didn't mince words: Cutler "wasn't a total disaster. He was merely awful." [10]

Cutler's second game, a 48-20 loss to San Diego, was marked by a 17-point comeback in the third quarter. Bernie Wilson of the AP wrote that Cutler looked "more poised than in his debut a week earlier" in throwing two touchdowns 48 seconds apart. [11] Mike Klis of the Post noted the quarterback's revitalized second-half performance:

[O]ut from the halftime locker room came a strong-armed kid with a jolt of newfound confidence.... Cutler showed the veterans inside a dejected locker room and anyone else who might have doubted him in Denver that he backs down from no one, even if it's Shawne Merriman blitzing his blindside. [12]

Cutler finished 17-for-30 for 188 passing yards and two touchdowns, both to fellow rookie tight end Tony Scheffler.

[edit] Trivia

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] College

College statistics (Vanderbilt)
Passing Rushing
Year CMP ATT YDS CMP% YPA TD INT SACK EFF[13] ATT YDS AVG TD
2002 103 212 1433 48.6 6.8 10 9 17 112.4 123 393 3.2 9
2003 187 327 2347 57.2 7.2 18 13 16 127.7 115 299 2.6 1
2004 147 241 1844 61.0 7.7 10 5 24 134.8 109 349 3.2 6
2005 273 462 3073 59.1 6.7 21 9 23 126.1 106 215 2.0 1

[edit] Pro

Passing Stats
Year Team G-S Passing
Att.-Comp.		 Yards Pct. TD Int. Long Sacks-Lost Pass
Rating
2006 Denver 2-2 51-27 331 .529 4 2 71 7-44 83.0

[edit] References

  1. ^ 2000 Indiana high school finals. IHSAA. Retrieved on 2006-12-11.
  2. ^ Football History. VandySports.com (Rivals.com network). Retrieved on 2006-11-26.
  3. ^ nfldraftcountdown.com.
  4. ^ Josh Bacott and Pat Imig (2006-10-28). Pigskin Detention: how to speak "pundit"-ese. Cold Hard Football Facts. Retrieved on 2006-11-13.
  5. ^ Denver Post Staff. "Cutler's promotion official", Denver Post, 2006-11-27. Retrieved on 2006-11-27.
  6. ^ Andrew Mason (2006-11-27). Cutler to Start. Denver Broncos. Retrieved on 2006-11-27.
  7. ^ Mike Organ (2006-10-27). False start: Shanahan rips Cutler debut report. The Tennessean. Retrieved on 2006-11-04.
  8. ^ Arnie Stapleton (2006-12-03). Seattle 23, Denver 20. Associated Press. Retrieved on 2006-12-03.
  9. ^ a b Mike Shanahan (2006-12-04). Postgame comments (audio). Retrieved on 2006-12-04.
  10. ^ Woody Paige (2006-12-04). Cutler dazed, confused. Denver Post. Retrieved on 2006-12-04.
  11. ^ Bernie Wilson (2006-12-10). San Diego 48, Denver 20. Retrieved on 2006-12-10.
  12. ^ Mike Klis (2006-12-11). http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_4817595. Denver Post. Retrieved on 2006-12-11.
  13. ^ NCAA passing efficiency ratings per The ORIGINAL Quarterback Rating Calculator. Note that NFL passer ratings are calculated quite differently.

[edit] External links

Preceded by:
Jake Plummer		 Denver Broncos Starting Quarterbacks
2006-		 Succeeded by:
Incumbent
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