Fantasy Draft Master

Well I was right about Jay Cutler no longer being a Bronco, but to the Bears???? Who knew? The Bears were not even on my radar, although in retrospect they probably should have been. The Rex Grossman experiment failed and Kyle Orton was not the answer, despite what the Bears faithful tried to spin last season. So what does this mean for fantasy football??

Jay Cutler, Chicago Bears- Unless the Bears do something smart and sign Torry Holt or the newly released Plaxico Burress, this move actually hurts Cutler’s fantasy value. Last season Cutler had one of best receivers in the game to throw to in Brandon Marshall. He also had the emergent burner Eddie Royal and the second coming of Jason Witten in Tony Scheffler. In a word “Weapons”. He arrives in Chicago with a very good tight end to throw to in Greg Olsen and a super speedy cornerback/kick return phenom turned receiver in Devin Hester……and that’s it! The Bears just signed all-pro Left Tackle Orlando Pace which means that for 6-7 games next year Cutler will have all day to throw (until Pace is out for the season with an ankle or knee injury) But who will he throw to????? ~ Doyadoya

Hurts his value?  This kills it.  Cutler goes from a team that throws more than most to one that doesn’t.  He also goes to a team that has a good defense, solid running game and as you mentioned no weapons.  Unless the Bears make some big moves in the receiver area Cutler has gone from easily a top 5 QB to barely a top 10, if that. ~ Pretzel

Devin Hester, Bears- This is the greatest news Hester has heard in his life. He will be getting balls thrown to the correct spots consistently. For a guy who is know for speed and playmaking ability and not hands, it is great to not have to constantly adjust to the ball during his routes. It might give him a chance to be where he wanted to be in his break when the ball gets there, which means there will be more than a few highlight reels of DH making defenseless DBs look ridiculous. ~ Doyadoya

Agreed.  The Bears still need to get someone on the other side to open it up a little for Hester . ~ Pretzel

Greg Olsen, Bears- See Devin Hester but substitute the “making defenseless DB look stupid” with “running over defenseless DBs” ~ Doyadoya

This should make Olsen the stud tight end he was expected to be coming out of college.  He just took a jump on my draft board. ~ Pretzel

Brandon Marshall, Broncos- Marshall might actually be the hardest hit by this trade. He was the go to guy (when he wasn’t in court) Now he has an inconsistent QB running an unfamiliar offense…..Not Good. ~ Doyadoya

Add to this that he just underwent hip surgery and is expected to miss all of the offseason program and you get everything you said and no time to build chemistry with you newly acquired inconsistent QB.  Can things get worse for Brandon Marshall? ~ Pretzel

Eddie Royal, Broncos- Kyle Orton has a big arm no question; he is just not very good at aiming it. Eddie Royal is a burner, home run hitter. Royal’s production may actually increase, since the Broncos will be in a lot more 3rd and long situation and behind more often they will be throwing long a lot. ~ Doyadoya

With Marshall gone for the offseason look for Royal to take the role of Orton’s go to wide receiver. ~ Pretzel

Kyle Orton, Broncos- Look for Orton to return the Orton of old. Inconsistent, unsure of the offense, lost and great at making mistakes. The sad part for Orton is he will not have the Chicago defense to save his win loss record. ~ Doyadoya

With all that in mind I still look for Orton’s fantasy value to increase on a team that will definitely be throwing a lot more then his former team and weapons around him that have the talent to make his mistake still look good.  Marshall, Royal, Stokley and Scheffler are all better for Orton then the super speedy cornerback/kick return phenom attempting to learn the receiver position, Devin Hester. ~ Pretzel