Fran Tarkenton admits he hasn't seen much of Jay Cutler, but he saw enough Thursday night to render an opinion on the embattled Chicago Bears quarterback. Minnesota Vikings Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton joined "Waddle & Silvy" to share his less than positive feedback on the Bears and Jay Cutler. "I really question whether he can play," Tarkenton, the Hall of Fame quarterback and former Minnesota Viking, said Friday on "The Waddle and Silvy Show" on ESPN 1000 in Chicago. "Quarterbacks need to make their team better. If it's a bad team, they can even make a bad team better. Somebody may say well, even Peyton Manning couldn't help the Bears. Yes, he could. Tom Brady could, too. They might not win the championship or get to the playoffs, but they would make that team better. Those wide receivers who are struggling would be better because they would make them better." Tarkenton, who led the Vikings to three Super Bowls in the 1970s, disputed the notion that Cutler's mechanics needed work, it's a lot simpler than that, he said. "Great quarterbacks, good quarterbacks, make plays," Tarkenton said on "The Waddle and Silvy Show." "Mechanics is overwrought. Whether they're strong-armed, weak-armed, throw sidearm, throw overhead, they're fast, they're quick, I don't care. I just want someone to make plays. Peyton Manning doesn't look beautiful back there. Jay Cutler had every opportunity to make plays for his team last night and every opportunity he didn't. That's how I judge a quarterback: Either you make plays or you don't. I don't even want to talk about mechanics." Source: ESPN
You tell 'em Fran. Wasn't there a thread about whether Cutler was a SB caliber QB last year? :icon_confused:
Fran Tarkenton needs to shut the heck up and go back into obscurity...is he going to comment on everyone now?
I can't argue with what he's saying. We've all seen QB's picked to be Super Stars never being more than average. Cutler is looking very average, and there had to be a good reason McDaniels saw more in Cassel than Cutler. I remember Brady winning games with nobody receivers, and running backs. He just did what he had to with what talent he had to work with, and made everyone better around him. This is what Tarkenton is getting at, and he's right.
well, regardless of how much of what Fran said is going to be ignored, he is correct with this comment: "Mechanics is overwrought. Whether they're strong-armed, weak-armed, throw sidearm, throw overhead, they're fast, they're quick, I don't care. I just want someone to make plays." Too much is made with 'being mechanically sound' as a prerequisite to success. Just compare Jeff George to Doug Flutie, for example. Jeff George was possibly the most mechanically sound QB we had seen for years but he didn't have the mental make-up or smarts to be an nfl qb. flutie looked like a high school qb with his size and throwing style but he was crafty and mentally strong and thus had more success as a professional qb.
And to think we gave a 1st round pick for Cutler and just extended his contract a month ago too. :icon_rolleyes: I'm not ready to throw him under the bus yet, like I have Lovie and Turner but I'm getting close.:icon_frown:
Personally, I wouldn't be anointing Mcdaniels a QB Oracle at 33. Cutler was gone for reasons other than McDaniels 'seeing' something missing in Cutler. As far as seeing something more in Cassel? I assume you mean Kyle Orton & that would be far fetched IMO. Orton is a big step down as a QB from Cutler. & Brady may have had nobody receivers/RBs in some people's eyes but he had a ton more talent from coaches thru players than what the Bears have right now. Brady would be getting slammed by the likes of Tarkenton if he was the Bear QB. The OL is useless & the WRs are so green they need to put up better #s just to be considered nobodies. Cutler needs to play better but to dump this at his feet is misguided. Tarkenton is just another ex-jock trying to get some headlines. If he was on the Bears in his prime right now, he'd already be on the IR
With McDaniels, he tried to trade for Cassel, and Cutler found out about it, and thru a fit demanding a trade. Who knows what it was all about, but Cutler felt Cassel was going to be brought in and him traded somewhere by Josh. That's what got him traded to Chicago. It was all about Cassel.
OK, I get what you meant. I took it as being McDaniels thinking it was a good thing to trade for Orton. I still think that was insanity. Sorry for the brain lapse. At the time of the Cassel mess, I questioned more how McDaniels handled it due to his inexperience. I agree, however, it was Cutler's immaturity that amplified everything. I'd still go with Cutler over Cassel anyway....
you are correct. cassell was mcdaniels first choice and they actually offered more to the pats for cassell than the chiefs did but the pats were so pissed off at mcdaniels, they made sure to give cassell to a division rival along with one of their defensive players, vrabel, to help their defense learn the 'patriots' way. right now, mcdaniels is getting the first laugh though because it appears he's gotten the best part of everything.
Well, in all honesty I didn't think Cutler was going to show up in a Bears uniform and then they become the greatest team ever. Going into this season there were A LOT of questions about not having a true #1 receiver. I love Devin Hester but he's not exactly what I would call a Pro Bowl class receiver. They need to get him back to Special Teams where he excels and use him as a receiver sparingly. Free agency will be a big priority for Chicago's front office this off season. Since they gave away all their early draft picks they will have to make some moves in the free agent market. As for Fran Tarkenton, he really needs a hobby or he needs to go commit some more adultery. He's been pretty opinionated lately, although he made some good points on Cutler it seems like he's anointed himself as "Spokesperson" of yester-year.
This could go down as one of the best trades ever, especially if Cutler never reaches his potential. Even if Orton doesn't end up the long term QB at Denver, he will do until Denver can possibly draft a franchise type QB with their abundance of picks in 2009/2010 or pull off another trade for someone. McDaniels was thrilled to get Orton as a throw in part of the trade, because he was hurting at that position. Personally, I'm not sold on Cassel, but obviously his ex coach McDaniels knows more than me, and sure thought he'd be better than Cutler. What I'm interested in knowing is what McDaniels saw that turned him off on Cutler. I haven't seen enough of Cutler to form my own opinion on the matter.
man, i wish you were around before the season because i was questioning a lot of things about the bears prior to the season and all of the bears fans i was talking to assumed cutler was the final piece of the puzzle. the bears receivers, their offensive schemes, and o-line/running game still need work before cutler looks like a pro-bowler.
