Cutler Ranks 19th Best QB in the NFL

Rankings are usually pretty useless, this case is no exception. Mostly because it's twisting stats around.

Agreed. However, as others said, this is based quite a bit on stats.

So I went here to get some straight stat rankings:
http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics/player/_/stat/passing/sort/quarterbackRating

In QB rating, Cutler is actually 20th, the two right above him are Freeman and Bradford. Sort by attempts, he's 24th. Total Yards, 24th, Percent, 20th, TDs, 21st. So based on stats alone, he's right where he should be. It's more interesting to me to see the top of the field change when you hit those sorts. Brees is 1st in yards, but only 10th in percent, and 8th in rating. Stafford is #2 in yards, but 18th in percent, 22nd (!) in Rating. So is Stafford really that much better than Cutler (if at all?)

 

Personally I would rank Cutler somewhere between 10 and 15, but I am much harsher on the younger QB's especially the rookies from last year because I want to see a larger body of work. He is 51 and 42 is 93 regular season starts in 6 years. His TD to INT ratio is 136 to 100 which isn't horrible. His Career completion percentage is 60.8% and he averages a little over 3500 yards per season 22 TD's and 15 INT's per season. Those are journeyman QB numbers that I believe he is capable of doing much better but this is his 8th NFL season, the time to start making his move is now.

 

Cutler is the best QB we've ever had in Chicago. And his physical ceiling is probably as high as the top 5 or 6 guys on the list.

That is why as far as I am concerned, we re-sign him and continue to surround him with weapons.

BUT his decision making needs to improve. He needs to start looking off Marshall this year. The supporting cast should and has to be better.

Al in Cal replies:

I never saw the guy play but I'd say Sid Luckman was the best. I do agree that Cutler is the best they've had in my years as a fan. Too bad McMahon couldn't stay on the field because I thought he was an excellent QB. Cutler does need to improve his results. That is the plain and simple of it.

 

I always felt that if there was one game I absolutely needed to win, I'd like Namath as my QB.

 

Josh Freeman ahead of Cutler is insulting. So is having Sam Bustford, I mean Bradford, ahead of Jay. Not really gonna give this list much more thought than that.

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

Stats?

We don't need no stinkin' stats!

I think it's absurd to see Cutler at 19th. I don't think that this is an accurate assessment of his abilities at all.

 

The QB rating put out by ESPN is crap. They use statistics as a base metric but it says right in the description of it that they reserve the right to toss the numbers out the window if their is a concensus that they don't work out correctly. You can't go with something this subjective. If you are looking for a straight up statistical analysis of passing you want the Passer Rating. It is archaic and difficult to understand but it is at least entirely based on passing stats.

 

Personally, like "power rankings" it's all just noise.

I agree with BWW completely that the game has been morphed (purposefully) into a league catered to the fantasy football generation.

Yards = fantasy points.

Yards = "total offense".

Idiot fantasy nuts honestly care less about a whether a team wins anymore - only that their player put up yards.

Stafford goes 4-12 last year and is ranked 11...

Cutler goes 10-5 and is 19th...

Like I said before, if you're going to exclude the eye-test and base rankings purely on stats, at least include the most important stat: Wins.

 

Careful Mongo, not all fantasy nuts are idiots!

I love fantasy football because it gives me soemthing to focus on for games that aren't Bears games. I'd still watch football all day Sunday (well. Monday and Thursday too. And sometimes Wednesday and Saturday...) without fantasy football, but fantasy football makes it twice as enjoyable for me personally.

 

I love fantasy football and have been playing for years, back to the time that you phoned in lineups and got mailed (not email) the results later on in the week.

But fantasy football has changed the way the average fan looks at players. And it's dumb. Yards don't always equal success. And a QB that throws for 400 yards and loses isn't automatically better than a QB that throws for 150 yards and wins. But the average fan would tell you he is because he sees the yards total and make that the determining factor.

I prefer the eye test above all stats. And wins matter more than anything else.

 

I guess it reads that way, but that's not what I meant.

 

I find it hard to believe that Jay Cutler is ranked 19th so I decided to look to Football Outsiders they seem to have a different formula when they try to determine value of a player or a unit. According to them 19 is being generous they rank him in 2012 at 27th and list ESPN QBR ranking at 20, and Aikman ranked the Bears offense at 20th.
Then I decided to click on the link to Jay Cutler's name only to be greeted by a jerkface picture from a press conference. I decided to click on every other QB link to see what pic's they had and and all the other pic's were either action shots from their former schools, former teams or they were in uniform, *sigh* but I digress.
It's quite obvious that their system is flawed too. I would rather have a stat that shows how a QB performs when the opponent is within one score in either direction to me that seems to be more of an accurate reflection of their ability. While it still has flaws it eliminates the garbage yards allowed when being blown out, but also would reflect on how well they control the ball in a tight game. I also believe that wins and loses is important, but how much weight should that carry? Tim Tebow won games but many would still question his ability at QB. When Kyle Orton won games with the Bears many would question his ability at QB.
I do think Jay Cutler is underrated and I hope Trestman can bring it out this year. Perhaps if Martz didn't try to squeeze this team into his offense and Carl actually had a clue how to run an offense it wouldn't be a
question. I expect the defense to take a step backwards this season, but I hope the offense takes two steps forward.

Go Bears

 

when CUTLER is forced into a 17 step drop by Martz with a bad line it's tuff, up untill last yr Devin Hester was his # 1 W.R. (C'MON MAN) ....Cutler is top TEN in the right situation

 

Pretty much nail on the head.

But its confusing with Matt Schaub, ranked 23. Does brinson think hes a choker in the playoffs after being a stat machine in the regular season?

Oh--mongo, stole the Aykroyd quote on the other site, you should check it out. Fun times. You to bww...

if you're looking for comedy in baseball ]:->

 

Just to play devil's advocate here:

They have him ranked on what he does and has done. Not potential. I think maybe we are giving him more credit because he has a huge upside and has been thrown in an awful situation.

But this is a "show me" league.

I see nothing wrong with stats but I do see something wrong with them if that is all they use. Like Mongo said, wins/losses, playoff record, clutch games won, all should go into it. I don't think there is a site out there that does this objectively.

Just like I doubt there is a site out there that would rank these guys just on their play on the field and not what the media makes these guys out to be.

 

Somehow, wins get ignored in these ranking like some have said in this thread and they should be a factor. When I see a guy like Stafford ranking so high, it is pretty funny. All Detroit does is pass, pass, pass and a lot of it is short stuff. Also, a lot of his rating especially yards is strongly based on the fact that their defense is so bad that the offense gets the ball back quickly after the other team scores.

 

Cutler's record as a Starter the last 3 years compared to any of the above 5. They smoked Tony Romo head to head last year. Cutler has a NFC championship appearance, none of the above can say that. Think about his record when he starts compared to when he doesn't:

2010 11-5, NFC Championship appearance.
2011 7-3, injured
2012 10-5 (could take off the Texans game as a loss because he only played half the game)


He is 28-13 as a starter, 1-1 in the playoffs. Romo can't say that, Bradford can't say that, Freeman can't say that, Newton can't say that and Wilson's track record is to short to compare. Say what you want about him but the team is better when he is in the lineup. He has played for an egotistical pigheaded maniac in Martz and a complete moron in Tice compiling that record. Can't say it is a TD/INT or yards thing because everybody thinks Flacco is "elite" eventhough he has NEVER thrown for 4000 yards or more than 25 TD's. Cutler AT WORST is a top 15 QB in this league and with Trestman I think he is going to finally show everybody that he actually belongs in the top 10.

 

I think the names that stick out to me and make me scratch my head are:

You know what else is funny, take Wilson out and has beat everyone of those QB's head to head over the past few years, you can throw Stafford in there as well. I guess that is not important, just whether or not the media likes you or not.

 

Yeah. That an your fantasy stats. Wins/Losses don't matter. Only the SB does. (Which is why Flacco is so high)