HONOLULU — Compare the physical talents and Jay Cutler is every bit as good as Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. Maybe better.
Arm strength, accuracy, foot speed, athleticism. In these areas, Manning and Brady appear to have nothing on Cutler.
It was presented exactly this way to Manning here after one of the team’s Pro Bowl practices last week. He nodded his head in agreement.
“Yeah, but a lot of quarterbacks are physically just as good as him,” said Kansas City tight end Tony Gonzalez of Manning. “That’s not what makes great players. Great anything in life. It’s about how much work and how much extra effort, more than the next guy. How many more hours you’re willing to put in, more than the next guy. That’s what’s made Peyton.”
Manning, of the Indianapolis Colts, and New England’s Brady are considered the NFL’s two best quarterbacks. Cutler, the Broncos’ rising talent, ranks somewhere among the large, scrambled gathering in the level below. Work ethic may partially explain the separation. But it’s more about where those extra hours lead.
“It’s the mental part of the position,” Cutler said. “I think with the offense for Tom and Peyton, they’ve been with the same system for a while. The guys around them all know what’s going on.”
He mentioned wide receiver Reggie Wayne, and how well he works with Manning.
“They don’t even have to say anything,” Cutler said. “They’ve grown up in the same system and they’ve just become better and better and better. I think that’s the key to a good offense, keeping your guys in that system. Peyton and Tom, they’ve got it mastered.”
Since Manning became the No. 1 overall draft pick of the Colts in 1998, he has had one offensive coordinator, Tom Moore. Since Brady became the sixth-round draft choice of the Patriots in 2000, he has had Bill Belichick as his head coach.
Playing those mind games
Over the years, the minds of Manning and Brady have expanded. They audible more than any other quarterbacks. Making their own play calls increases their ability to intuitively read pass coverages, and find the soft spot in a defense.
Rarely is quarterbacking about how the ball is thrown, but where. And to whom. And when.
“A lot of that comes from experience,” Manning said. “The thing with Jay, you don’t find a lot of first-round quarterbacks who didn’t come from a college that didn’t have a lot of success. You look at Brady and Michigan. They had a winning program.”
Manning came from the University of Tennessee, where he won big.
Cutler took four years of beatings at Vanderbilt, where he led the Commodores beyond their usual victory expectations, but not to a bowl appearance.
“It tells you what a great talent Jay is; usually a quarterback who doesn’t play in bowl games isn’t getting picked in the first round,” Manning said. “He never had a great supporting cast around him. So I think the more he plays in Denver, that mental game is going to happen for him. The experience will come into play for him. You can’t find arms like he has, and the ability to run.”
The next step for Cutler, though, isn’t about talent. Talent got Cutler to the Pro Bowl, in just his second full season as a starter. No small achievement. But as he looks forward, from the Pro Bowl to the Super Bowl, Cutler knows he will have to become more consistent at making better decisions.
He threw for more than 4,500 yards in 2008, third-best in the league. His 25 touchdown passes ranked seventh and he was the most difficult NFL quarterback to sack, once every 56 pass attempts.
But Cutler also ranked a pedestrian 16th in passer rating, largely because he threw more interceptions than anyone except Brett Favre.
“We all start out raw, regardless of who you are,” said Kerry Collins, the veteran Tennessee Titans quarterback who wasn’t honored with his second Pro Bowl until his 14th season. “But he’s a smart guy. Already the mental part of it, you can tell he’s smart enough to where he gets it. And he’ll keep on getting better and better.”
Freedom in the future?
New Broncos coach Josh McDaniels should be able to help. In Cutler’s first two seasons, he was largely dependent on coach Mike Shanahan and offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger to think for him. In Cutler’s third season, he became comfortable enough to call audibles and pick from two or three options at the line.
Expanded responsibility with the mental aspect of playing quarterback was a big reason Cutler was initially frustrated by Shana-han’s firing. Upon reflection, Cutler understands McDaniels can help enhance his mental development.
In three previous seasons, McDaniels served as the Patriots’ offensive coordinator and play caller. Anyone who has watched Brady bark out pass protections and audibles at the line of scrimmage knows McDaniels gives his quarterback freedom to think.
“It certainly seems like that,” Manning said.
“I think he puts a lot of pressure on the quarterback; he challenges you,” Cutler said. “As I understand it, once you learn that system, it gives you a lot of options. But he keeps it simple. Sometimes that stuff can get out of control, but he gets you to the line of scrimmage and gives you two, three options. It should be fun.”
Mike Klis: 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com
