Dennis Wierzbicki USA TODAY Sports
Going into last week’s game, I was a bit skeptical of Jay Cutler’s gunslinger style being able to mesh with the intellectual scheme Marc Trestman has brought to the Chicago Bears offense. It is a game plan and an offensive style designed to spread out opposing defenses so the quarterback can exploit single coverage.
For the first three quarters of last week’s game against the Minnesota Vikings, we still saw Cutler forcing the ball and making poor choices.
Suddenly in the game winning drive, it was like a switch flicked in his head and he finally got Trestman’s system. What we saw was a quarterback picking apart a defense that had vexed him all day long. He spread the ball out to multiple receivers throughout the drive, including a nice catch and run by Alshon Jeffery before hitting Martellus Bennett for the game-winning score.
If he keeps this up, Jay Cutler has become a dangerous man worth owning in all leagues, and the value of all his receivers goes up. While last week’s highlight reel makes Bennett look good, the name I think you should consider most is receiver Alshon Jeffery.
He’s a big-bodied receiver the bears drafted in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft. He ran a 4.48 in the 40-yard dash and has a 36.5-inch vertical. These moves combined with a 6-foot-3, 216-pound frame make him a force that is hard for opposing defenses to stop with just a cornerback alone.
At times, he struggles to get off the jam, but the mentorship of Brandon Marshall has helped him mature there, as has the fact that Trestman’s system is designed to put him in single coverage against the second corner. A nice bonus is the fact that he even had his name called on two reverse plays, and you get a little extra sugar from the rushing yards.
He’s the kind of player you can grab off the waiver wire this week to stash for a bye week filler. He’s also got the ceiling to grow into something more as the season stretches closer and closer towards the fantasy playoffs.
Eric Beuning is a Fantasy Football writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @ericbeuning or add him to your network on Google.
