I don’t usually laugh at fan questions. At least not too hard. After all, all of us are created less that perfect and we make mistakes. But having said that, I had to sadly chuckle just a little as Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune answered this question:
“Jay Cutler makes a lot of good throws but he doesn’t seem capable of fully utilizing small, quick receivers such as Daniel Braverman. Cutler seems to hold the ball too long and isn’t nearly as accurate with quick, short throws as someone like Tom Brady. Cutler either doesn’t make the throw, throws too late or too high or has his passes swatted down. I’m not saying Braverman is the next Wes Welker, but with Cutler we’ll never know. Is that fair? — Mike M., Chicago
“To my knowledge, Braverman hasn’t been running routes with Cutler at quarterback in the preseason. So Cutler isn’t guilty of not utilizing the seventh-round pick from Western Michigan. Cutler did a nice job of getting slot receiver Marc Mariani involved during the second half of last season when Eddie Royal was sidelined. Nineteen of Mariani’s 22 receptions went for a first down. That’s pretty good production.”
So it’s come to this. Bears fans want to believe so badly that Daniel Braverman, the “little engine that could” with the prototypical heart but without the prototypical size, is the real deal that they’re actually blaming Jay Cutler rather than acknowledging the fact that Braverman may just not be that good.
In fairness, it wasn’t that long ago that I, too, was criticizing Cutler for not being able to throw to undersized receivers. And I may not be done yet. But, as Biggs points out, Cutler shut fans and media up last year working with a variety of back up wide receivers as the position was devastated by injuries. We’ll see if that kind of effectiveness continues with Dowell Loggains now the offensive coordinator.
I know everyone wants to see the Daniel Braverman’s of the world succeed. We’re all underdogs in this world and we all want to believe that we can overcome deficiencies that, through no fault of our own, we’ve simply been born with. Sometimes superior effort and hard work can allow you to do that. But sometimes you have to face the reality that it often just doesn’t happen that way.