In what up to now has been a major summer of discontent — with both the Cubs and White Sox struggling mightily just to get to .500 — July 31 can’t come soon enough for many Chicago-area sports fans.

That’s the date when both rookies and veterans are scheduled to report to the Bears’ training camp in Bourbonnais, Ill., which, if this offseason’s minicamps and OTAs are any indication, figures to be perhaps the most well-attended camp ever.

A major Bears buzz has been hovering over the Windy City since the moment GM Jerry Angelo stunned the populace with his blockbuster April 2 acquisition of 26-year-old Pro Bowl QB Jay Cutler, who had worn out his welcome in Denver but has very quickly become the toast of Chi-town.

In any of a thousand strip malls in and around Chicago, one can’t help but notice the large number of shoppers wearing Cutler’s new No. 6 Bears jersey.

Following in the shaky footsteps of 11 different starting signalcallers in Angelo’s eight years as the Bears’ GM, Cutler couldn’t seem more at ease in his new surroundings, making a mostly strong impression off the field while looking every bit as good as advertised in early practice sessions.

“I’m really comfortable, Cutler said after a mid-June practice. “I think we’re really getting a feel for each other, with me and the receivers and the offensive linemen and the tight ends.”

Added Bears WR Devin Hester: “I feel like we’re stronger than we have ever been. I feel like we’re going to take the ball up and down the field. That’s the kind of quarterback Jay brings to this team.”

A quarterback, it should be noted, who is projected to pave the way to a Super Bowl berth, based on the latest odds posted at The Mirage hotel in Las Vegas, where the Bears are suddenly the front-runners, just ahead of the Eagles and Giants from the NFC East, to win the 2009 NFC title.

Not everybody is so infatuated with Cutler, as evidenced by the well-circulated offseason critique by respected football figure Tony Dungy that questioned the QB’s maturity and leadership ability.

“Some of the things that happened leading to him leaving Denver … that would concern me as a head coach,” said Dungy, the former highly successful head coach of the Colts, who has joined NBC’s “Football Night in America” studio crew. “He can make all the throws, but quarterbacking is much more than just making throws.”

Cutler’s response?

“I’m fine with everything he said,” he replied. “I haven’t played a game here.”

No, he hasn’t. Which is why it seems a bit premature to be talking about Super Bowl aspirations.

In what looks to be a very flawed NFC North — with the Vikings waiting for the latest chapter of the Brett Favre saga to unfold, the Packers not looking real comfortable at the moment with their conversion to a 3-4 defense, and the Lions arguably coming off the worst performance in league history — I could see the Bears winning a division title.

Barely.

But not a Super Bowl. Keeping with this column’s emphasis on Cutler, here are six good reasons:

I — Who’s going to catch Cutler’s passes? Bears head coach Lovie Smith continues to say with a straight face that Hester is a “legitimate No. 1 receiver,” but the consensus among daily team observers is that Hester remains a major work in progress. Although he did make some legitimate strides down the stretch last season, Hester’s continuing development could be hindered by a mostly unproven supporting cast, led by second-year pro Earl Bennett. Bennett looks a lot better, but his inability as a third-round rookie to make any kind of an impact at the team’s weakest position last season remains cause for concern. Rookies Juaquin Iglesias and Johnny Knox and veteran Rashied Davis complete a unit that could be keeping Angelo awake well into the night, as he seriously ponders the possibility of adding ex-Giant Plaxico Burress and his impressive 15.5 yards-per-catch career to the mix, the obvious risks nothwithstanding.

II — Safety issues hard to ignore. Start with the fact that the Bears’ most experienced safety by a wide margin is newcomer Josh Bullocks, who lost his starting roie in New Orleans last season and was so shaky that he showed up on a YouTube clip demonstrating how not to play the position. The Bears are hoping Corey Graham can make a successful conversion from cornerback to free safety, where his physical style could be well-suited for the position, but such experimentation hardly creates a comfort zone. It’s also worth noting that ’08 starting SS Kevin Payne is coming off shoulder surgery. But perhaps the biggest concern is the leadership at the position, which will be seriously diminished by the departure of Mike Brown, who has moved on to Kansas City. Yes, Brown had big problems staying healthy, but he was almost always effective when he was able to play.

III — D-line brittle in the middle. Even Rod Marinelli, the undisputed dean of D-line coaches, could be challenged to the max by a pair of injury-plagued starting tackles — Tommie Harris and Dusty Dvoracek — who are being counted on to exert a great deal more interior pressure up front than they did last season, when the Bears ranked 29th in QB sack percentage. A free-flowing rotation inside, including underrated Anthony Adams, promising second-year pro Marcus Harrison and rookie Jarron Gilbert, could help preserve Harris, whose left knee hasn’t been right since he suffered a grade-2 MCL sprain in his left knee in Week Three two seasons ago, and Dvoracek, who has been sidelined with injuries more often than not in his three years at the pro level.

IV — Potential chaos on the corners. The Bears are guaranteed to be nothing more than a passing fancy in ’09 if their pass defense performs as sloppily as it did last season, when it routinely gave up inside position on slant patterns and kept leaving a ridiculous amount of cushion for opposing receivers at the worst possible times. Former Pro Bowler Nate Vasher has greatly underachieved since signing a five-year, $28 million deal before the ’07 season, playing in only 12 of 32 games and intercepting only two passes. He says he’s feeling much healthier, but that remains to be seen. Same goes for fellow starting CB Charles Tillman, who was plagued by injuries to both shoulders last season and was responsible for perhaps the ’08 defense’s low point, when he allowed Bernard Berrian’s 99-yard TD reception in a 34-14 prime-time loss to the Vikings. 

V — Perilous protection. Cutler’s excellent escapability — he was sacked only 11 times last season — will make him much less of a sack target than Kyle Orton, but the starting tackles in front of him come equipped with noteworthy issues. Granted, OLT Orlando Pace is a distinguished seven-time Pro Bowler who sticks out like the Sears Tower. But he’s also 33 years old and has missed 25 games over the past three seasons due to assorted injuries. At right tackle, former first-round draft pick Chris Williams remains an unproven commodity, having seen limited action in his rookie campaign after suffering a back injury on the second day of training camp that eventually required surgery.    

VI — Show me the backups. Smith is going to have to pray for the same kind of good luck enjoyed by his good buddy Dungy, who never was forced to get by without Peyton Manning for an extended period of time. Is Smith really serious when he says he would be comfortable with either Brett Basanez or Caleb Hanie taking over under center if, God forbid, Cutler got cut down even for a few games? Those guys make the Cubs’ bullpen look worthy of Cooperstown.