Should Jay CUtler start over Plummer this year?

[Fast Tatum Bell]

Personally, I think Jay Cut should start. In the pre-season games his passes are crisp and accurate. PLummer looks a little sluggish and his descision making is questionable at times. So tell me what you think.

[football junkie]

I'm all for it. I think Cutler was the best of the three quarterbacks taken in the first round of this year's draft and I think he's destined for superstardom. Either way it's just a matter of time.

If there was some way to cut Plummer and avoid having all that dead money on the cap this would be a no brainer. But cap considerations will probably prevent Cutler's ascension until 2007.

[Steve_Atwater]

Great, a second Broncos fan on PSF. Welcome Fast Tatum Bell.

I havent seen Cutler play; ever (college or in this pre-season), so it's hard to assess his performance. Yet, I'm never in favor of rushing young guys into action. Especially since this is not supposed to be a throw away-prepare for the future kind of a season for the Broncos. Plus, the kid has played, what 3 quarters? mostly against guys who will be pumping gas in a few days from now, so let's not pencil him as the man at the helm for the Broncos just yet.

[Steve_Atwater]

Well, the word on the street is that Plummer has now officially lost his starting job to Jay Cutler.

We know Mike Shanahan has guts. But giving the starting job of a 7-4 team, in the middle of a dogfight for a playoff position to an unproven, untested rookie, that takes big time guts. Or sheer stupidity. We wont know wich is wich for a few more weeks. If Cutler's brilliant, than the genius is in. If he's awful and costs the Broncos a playoff spot, than Shanahan might just find himself at the unemployement office.

Personally, I don't think it's worth the risk. Can we really say that Plummer is the reason why we're 7-4? Has he been responsible for many of those losses? Would we have won last night at KC with Cutler at the helm? The answer seems far from obvious. If we were 4-7, I'd say put the youngster in. But 7-4? I don't believe so.

[football junkie]

I think Shanahan has finally accepted that Plummer is never going to be good enough to get the Broncos to the top of the mountain. He must be seeing enough by Cutler in practice to justify the switch, if it does happen next week.

These things don't always turn out bad, i.e. Tom Brady, Tony Romo.

If Shanahan were to stick with Plummer and the Broncos were to finish 11-5 or 10-6 and do nothing in the playoffs again I think Shanahan would have real reasons to fear for his job.

So if this goes terribly wrong Shanahan might lose his job. But doing nothing could bring him the same result. He's rolling the dice. It worked for Parcells and Belichick and failed for countless coaches who's names have been forgetten.

I know Cutler has the talent to win now. It will be interesting to see if he does. It's all a mind game now.

[Steve_Atwater]

I don't think Shanahan's job is in Jeopardy if they make the playoffs and don't go deep into them. But if he throws Cutler in the action before he's ready, and the young man ends up being a bust, then he might find himself with lots of time to play golf. I think that at this point, Plummer should still be the number 1 quarteback, and that Shanahan should have made that clear from the get go. That might just have toned down the criticism of Plummer in Denver where they're ready to run him out of town on a rail.

Two factors combine the explain this situation where everyone sees the kid as the savior: A) Plummer was never really accepted by the Broncos fans, for a reason or another. They've been very critical of him for as long as he's been with the team. He's mistake prone, of course he is. But his record in Denver is excellent, he brought the team to a conference championship last year. He didn't play so well in said conference championship game and was unable to beat the Steelers, that's true. Then again, a fellow by the name of Peyton Manning failed to beat them as well. And the Broncos are 7-4 right now, and I can't put the blame for the two losses I've seen on him. But he's the scapegoat of choice in Denver.

Factor B) You know the old saying: The backup quarteback is the most popular person in town, as long as he doesen't step onto the field. Let's face it: The fans in Denver are waiting for Elway II, and won't be satisfied until they get one, wich might be never. Right now, they think Cutler may be the new Elway, but it probably won't take long before they turn on him as well.

I believe Denver is about the become a career killing city for quarterbacks. It might become very hard to sign free agent QB's or draft high profile pivots if the Bronco nation keep this up.

[brady_branch]

Plummer, right now, reminds me of Kyle Boller. And that's bad. Cutler has fabulous skills, is a great team leader, and is very intelligent. He's got a better arm than Vince Young, and can scramble better than Matt Leinart. He's got more power in his arm than Leinart, and is far smarter than Young. He has no real weaknesses aside from inexperience, and it's about time they put him in.

[football junkie]

I believe Denver is about to [sic] become a career killing city for quarterbacks. It might become very hard to sign free agent QB's or draft high profile pivots if the Bronco nation keep this up.

I think Denver already is a career killer for QBs! Remember Tommy Maddox, drafted with the 25th overall pick out of UCLA in 1992 -- with the idea that he would eventually replace Elway. That didn't turn out so well.

Next came the unfortunate Brian Griese drafted in the third round out of Michigan in 1998, he took over for the retired Elway in 1999. Griese had four solid seasons with the Broncos, for a third round pick to replace John Elway and then throw 71 touchdowns to only 52 interceptions is exceptional. In 2000 he had a 102.9 QB Rating. But the fans ran him out of town.

Next it was Jake Plummer's turn, who in the three years he'd been the starting QB in Denver before this year had turned in QB Ratings of 91.2, 84.5 and 90.2. He threw for 4,089 yards and 27 touchdowns in 2004. This year he's not playing so well. His complettion percentage is down as is his yards per attempt and obviously his QB Rating. Now that he's benched he'll never get his job back.

All of which brings us to Jay Cutler, the 11th pick in this year's draft out of Vanderbilt. If Cutler can turn this trend around then maybe the organization can finally climb out of the shadow of John Elway. If not, in another three or four years you'll be drafting someone who's playing high school football right now to be the team's new savior. But I think Cutler is going to be the man.

[C. Snake]

Yes. Let Palmer rehab and then he can start.

[Old Sweater]

Not much traffic here last season.