Watching a quarterback with elite arm strength is unmistakable. The memories I have from seeing Chicago Bears QB Jay Cutler throw during 2006 Senior Bowl week remain in my mind over eight years later. I can still see the power and velocity from the ball coming out of Cutler's right hand directly in front of me.
But if success in the NFL were determined only by arm strength, then former first-round picks like Kyle Boller (2003), Vince Young (2006), JaMarcus Russell (2007) and Josh Freeman (2009) probably would be among the most successful quarterbacks in the league.
At quarterback, it's about mechanics, footwork and leadership -- and not just about the ability to throw the ball. Scouts and personnel executives often will go to games just to watch the quarterbacks interact with their teammates and coaches. Remarkably, this many years later these topics still come up when evaluators discuss whether Cutler can lead a team to the Super Bowl.
"If you watched him on the sidelines over the course of his career, I didn't see him sitting close to the other players and coaches," one longtime NFL executive said about Cutler. "He often sat alone. At that position, you want your guy constantly talking to his teammates."
Cutler's arm talent has never been in question. But does he have enough of the other factors that go into being a Super Bowl-caliber quarterback to make the Bears legitimate contenders, especially this season with the wealth of offensive talent around him? And will these questions ever go away?