Bears Blitz

Published by Joseph Sidari on June 12, 2009
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

Perusing the Chicago papers this morning, I couldn’t help but notice many of the reader comments that were defending Rex Grossman as a legitimate starting quarterback who is going to make a run at it in Houston.

Now, I will be the first to say I wish this guy luck, and I hope he gets the fresh start that he deserves. Nobody should have to endure the torture and humiliation that was the Sexy Rexy show since February of 2007 like he did. 

But seriously folks, Grossman is not good. 

Many feel he is a shoo-in for the No. 2 QB position behind the often-injured Matt Schaub in Houston. For those of you who believe this to be fact, allow me to put those thoughts to rest:

Dan Orlovsky—three years, $8.5 million.

Houston has obviously thought about a potential backup for if, and when, Schaub cannot go on any given Sunday. But they picked up Orlovsky months ago, when both he and Grossman were available.

With most of organized team activities now in the rearview mirror, the Texans signed Grossman to a one-year, league-minimum contract worth $620k.

To be honest, in the few games I have seen Orlovsky play, he seemed to be an intriguing prospect who has much more upside than our Rexy (of course, not taking into consideration the infamous scramble out of the back of the end zone).

The fact is, you need confidence to play QB in the NFL, and Grossman lost his somewhere in the 2006 season.

Sure, he had a few games here and there, but his start in Super Bowl XLI can be directly attributed to a stout and nasty defense, along with the greatest return man in the history of the NFL. 

The Bears have been a poor evaluator of quarterback talent since good ol’ No. 9 was handing the ball off to Sweetness. The QBs that have been brought into this organization have been laughable at best, and have done little on the positive side to win the affection of our great city. 

Grossman, and Kyle Orton for that matter, have been no different. The Bears drafted both of them and stuck by their NFL progression more out of the fear of being wrong than for any actual talent they possessed. 

Now, I adored each of these players and was sure they were “the one.” But then again, I am an unapologetic Bears fan.  If you put Stephen Hawking behind center and he somehow made one good throw in a game, I would have been singing his praises up and down Michigan Avenue.

The good news is we got it right this time. Picking up a quarterback like Jay Cutler, who went through a real NFL QB system where he got to fail on someone else’s watch, was the best move this organization could have done.

Proving time and time again that we wouldn’t know how to draft a good quarterback if our lives depended on it, this move will be one remembered for the ages in Chicago. 

This move will make us forget ever falling in love, and then hating, then falling in love, and then hating Grossman or Orton.

Though those two are done in Chicago, I do indeed wish them luck and will be happy if their dreams of ever become a game-breaking QB in the NFL come true—though I don’t think this is likely.

I’ll give Grossman a 2 percent chance of this happening, and I’ll give Orton a 50 percent chance (I really did like this guy).

So for those who feel Grossman is a gunslinging stud, or that Orton has what it takes to roll with the Broncos, allow me to say this: We have Jay Cutler.

Someone who has proven he is worth his weight in gold. Someone who can see over the offensive line, scramble to keep a play alive, and has never grown a nasty neck beard.

Adieu Rex. So long Kyle. Good luck to you both.