Marc Trestman's first season as Chicago's head coach brought spectacular offensive success and historic failure on defense — not exactly the traditional Bears formula. Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised that such a flawed and imbalanced group ultimately finished with an 8-8 record, narrowly missing the postseason.

For fantasy purposes, this team was an absolute gift in 2013. Not only did Chicago rank second in the NFL in scoring (27.8 PPG) and third in yards per play (6.0), but an insane percentage of the stats belonged to just four players. Together, Matt Forte, Alshon Jeffery, Brandon Marshall and Martellus Bennett combined for 5,513 scrimmage yards. All other Bears, collectively, produced just 765. So this offense was at once easy to predict and impossible to stop — a perfect fantasy combo, really.

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When all the numbers were in, Chicago had produced the No. 3 fantasy running back, the No. 6 and No. 9 receivers, plus the No. 10 tight end. And if the passing stats produced by Jay Cutler and Josh McCown had been delivered by a single player, that guy would have ranked as the No. 3 fantasy QB.

When the offseason hit, plenty of Chicago fans actually wanted the team to retain the 35-year-old McCown, allowing Cutler to walk. But that didn't happen, because the Bears aren't managed by meatheads.

View photos Smilin' Jay Cutler, potential top-5 QB at a dirt-cheap price. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) More

The franchise instead made a sensible decision, signing one of the NFL's most physically gifted quarterbacks to lead its offense for the foreseeable future. No disrespect intended to McCown — he was terrific last year, feasting mostly on weak defenses (MIN, DAL). But Chicago has finally assembled a supporting cast for Cutler that A) isn't terrible, and B) perfectly suits his game. He's a see-it/throw-it passer with a huge arm, yet for years he was asked to make anticipation throws to a group of kick-returners masquerading as receivers. And during the Mike Martz era, his protection was horrid.

These days, Chicago has continuity on offense, with all 11 starters returning. The O-line is respectable, the receivers are elite and gigantic, and the ground game is dangerous. Cutler enters his second season in a system he clearly enjoys, playing for a head coach he clearly respects. And still many of you won't touch him, because you're stuck in 2009. Fine.

If you're not a fan of Cutler's hungover/no-sleep sideline demeanor, OK. If you want to pretend that he should have passed for 5,000 yards back when Johnny Knox and Devin Hester were his top targets ... well, whatever. You'll probably never embrace the guy. He's not for everyone, I suppose. Just understand that Cutler's setup is remarkably fantasy-friendly — upper-tier receivers, inventive coach, terrible defense — and his talent has never been questioned. He's missed games due to injury in recent seasons, true, but it's not as if he has any sort of chronic, recurring issue. With a Yahoo ADP of 93.1 (QB12), Cutler is a ridiculous bargain. I'll take the discount all day. If Jay gives us 15 games, he's a lock for a top-8 finish at his position.

If NFL officials continue calling illegal contact and defensive holding as they have in the preseason, then Marshall and Jeffery are going to be completely uncoverable — like, it will literally not be legal to defend them. Chicago's starting wideouts are two of the most physical receivers in the league. Marshall in particular is a master of creating contact, then separating from corners. He's a 6-foot-4 box-out specialist, a deadly red-zone weapon, and one of the best run-blockers at his position. He's had four 100-catch seasons with Cutler as his quarterback (five total), in two different NFL cities. In each of the past seven years, Marshall has topped 1,000 receiving yards. And he hasn't missed a game over the last three years. There are no obvious weaknesses here, is what I'm saying. Marshall should basically never fall outside the top-16 overall picks.