Fantasy Football Cut-N-Go: Jay Cutler and Mike Martz Teasing Anxious Owners

No, we're not leading off today's Cut-N-Go with juicy details about Brandon Spikes' personal brand of "fantasy" football. Although I'd pay to be a fly on the wall at NFL Headquarters while Roger Goodell & Co. "investigate" the matter (on second thought ... no I wouldn't).

Where were we again?

Ah yes, Jay Cutler.

Cutler told the Chicago Sun-Times on Tuesday that he isn't worried about the Bears lackluster production on offense this preseason. That's not to say he's happy with their performance through the first three exhibition contests, but he did want everybody to know that the Bears are running a "vanilla" offense right now in order to keep their Xs and Os under wraps:

'''We're kind of running things at inopportune times -- we're not dialing stuff up when we could dial stuff up. So it's kind of a cloak-and-dagger thing right now."

''I've said it casually, but we're just kind of calling plays to call plays and get them out there,'' he said. ''We're not really out there game-planning and making adjustments. 'Hey, they're running cover-3, let's run this and do that.' We're all about ourselves right now.'

Convenient excuse? Perhaps. But it also makes plenty of sense. Why give opponents a sneak peek at the real game plan? The Bears certainly wouldn't be the first team to play coy with their playbook during the preseason.

What doesn't make a whole lot of sense is letting your quarterback get sacked 10 times in three games, a figure that looks much, much worse when you consider Cutler's played about a total of five quarters. Still, Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz doesn't seem to be fazed by the protection issues. In fact, he thinks the play up front has improved:

'I think there's a cohesion now, particularly in the passing game,'' Martz said. ''We do a lot of protections where Jay gets a feel for all those protections. We're trying to get all that done in a preseason, a lot more than you might do in a game.''

Perhaps Martz and Cutler are just optimists, or maybe they're just reaffirming what we as fantasy footballers seem to forget every season: preseason games have little or no bearing on in-season performance.

Even if the offensive line woes during the exhibition season are a legitimate issue, remember that Jon Kitna got sacked 63 times under Mike Martz in 2006. He also threw for over 4,000 yards and more than 20 TDs that season. Kitna may have had Jesus, but he didn't have the speed/weaponry on offense that Cutler has, nor did he have Cutler's arm or talent (or a girl like Kristin Cavallari on his arm).

In summary, Cutler's still a top-10 option at the position, folks. Don't let a little thing like the preseason convince you otherwise.

Kevin Smith on the Cutting Room Floor?
The Detroit Free Press is reporting that Lions RB Kevin Smith may not make the team's 53-man roster. Here's head coach Jim Schwartz's response when asked about Smith, who's still not recovered -- at least mentally -- from offseason knee surgery:

"I don't know," coach Jim Schwartz said Tuesday. "I'll cross that bridge when we get there. I don't know that there's very many people that have 100% earned a spot."

Sounds like the bacio della morte to me. In terms of fantasy fallout, Schwartz's response pretty much cements what we already knew: Jahvid Best will have no competition for carries this season. The Lions have until Saturday to determine whether or not Smith makes the cut, but his status as a "sleeper" in deeper formats may not recover from Schwartz's blow. Look elsewhere for a bench RB with upside.

Jets and Revis Still Butting Heads
According to FanHouse's own Dan Graziano, the New York Jets and Darrelle Revis are still "quietly continuing negotiations on a new contract." Sources say both sides are still confident a deal will get done before Week 1, but Jets head coach Rex Ryan doesn't seem to care; he insists his defense won't suffer without their top defender (and linebacker Calvin Pace who is out for six weeks with a fractured foot). That's all fine and dandy, Rex, but I can tell you now -- if Revis and the Jets don't come to terms before the season starts, your defense's fantasy production will suffer. Like falling-out-of-the-top-10 suffer (and yes, I'm fully aware that Rex Ryan will neither read this nor give a hoot about his team's fantasy prospects; although you wouldn't know it based on his Dustin Keller fantasy prognostication earlier this summer). Those planning on taking the Jets defense in the seventh or eighth round, consider yourself warned.

V-Jax to Meet Rams in St. Louis?
Jackson to St. Louis makes plenty of sense from the Rams perspective. Not only would Jackson provide rookie QB Sam Bradford with a viable weapon in the passing game -- top target Donnie Avery is out for the season with a torn ACL -- but his ability to stretch the field could help open things up for RB Steven Jackson. Sources have come forward to deny the Rams interest, but I think it's more likely St. Louis planted that lack of interest than them actually not being interested (read that twice for clarity). Regardless, with all the trade talk surrounding V-Jax in recent days, the decision to take a late-round flier on him is starting to look better and better.

The Cut-N-Go is back to keep you up-to-date on all the NFL news that affects the upcoming fantasy football season.