After all the ups and downs, Rex Grossman is being given one last chance to be the starting quarterback of the Chicago Bears. The much maligned quarterback signed a one-year contract on February 23rd that could earn him up to $5 million if he starts and fulfills other incentives.
Grossman, however, won’t just be handed the starting job, as he’ll enter the 2008 training camp in a heated competition with Kyle Orton.
The 22nd overall pick in the 2003 NFL Draft has had it rough since he entered the league. From strings of injuries to inconsistent play, Grossman hasn’t caught a break.
In fact, Grossman’s inconsistency has led to “good Rex, bad Rex.” It’s a fun game people play in Chicago. Every week, you guess if either good Rex or bad Rex will show up.
We all know the good one can play like an all-pro. Throwing for 289 yards and 4 touchdowns. But, the bad one can show shades of Ryan Leaf. Throwing a little under 150 yards, 0 touchdowns, 4 interceptions, and 2 fumbles.
Even after the inconsistency, Grossman is still a Bear, and surprisingly, Bears fans are split down the middle on who should start at quarterback. While favor for Orton caught steam after last season, Grossman still maintained a large number of supporters, and deservedly so.
Let’s be real, the Chicago Bears are not known for their prolific passing. Sid Luckman still holds the franchise’s record for most career passing yards at just a shade over 14,000, which was achieved in an era when there was little passing.
In 1995, Erik Kramer broke Bears’ single-season records in touchdown passes with 29 and passing yards with 3,838. Hardly a milestone for most teams.
So, why be picky? Following his 2006 campaign, Grossman tapped into the team’s single-season record books. His 3,193 passing yards are second behind Kramer, and his 23 touchdowns are third behind Luckman and Kramer.
The odds of the Bears finding their franchise quarterback soon are slim-to-none. Finding a franchise quarterback is not a skill, it’s luck. The Patriots didn’t know Tom Brady was going to be a great quarterback. They took a shot and struck gold in the 6th round.
What were the Bears supposed to do this year? They couldn’t draft a quarterback. The window on their defense is closing soon. Last year, a defense that had been feared by the NFL for the past three seasons, fell from 5th to 28th due to the injuries of stars Mike Brown, Tommie Harris, Nathan Vasher, and Brian Urlacher
By drafting a quarterback, your team has to be willing to let the young kid take bumps and bruises. He might have a “Grossman-esque season,” or even worse. Rookie quarterbacks rarely come out of the gate as a Pro Bowler. Even the best quarterbacks had rough first years. Peyton Manning threw 28 interceptions in 1998 during his rookie campaign.
How does that bring your defense justice? They would have to be on the field bailing out the offense; something they’ve had to do their whole careers. At least Grossman’s natural talent could give you a chance to move the ball downfield. If he does that, the defense stays off the field longer and stays healthy.
Some suggested free agency, but the Bears shouldn’t resort it. Honestly, who was out there?
Derek Anderson was heading back to Cleveland. Besides, no one knows if last season was just a flash in the pan.
Daunte Culpepper isn’t going to help either. Sure, he knows the NFC North, but his banged-up knee has taken away any of the skills he previously had.
The popular notion of a trade for Chicago native Donovan McNabb wasn’t a possibility, because as long as Andy Reid is head coach of the Eagles, McNabb isn’t leaving.
Grossman at least knows this offense. This season, the Bears are trying to resort to a new running game. They’ve let go of Cedric Benson, which is addition by subtraction. Rookie Matt Forte will get to prove himself this season and could have help from a free agent like Kevin Jones, who told the Chicago Tribune he was interested in coming to Chicago.
A running game will surely help alleviate the pressure on Grossman to throw the ball more than he has to. In order to make sure that happens, the Bears have improved their offensive line, with automatic sack machine Fred Miller now gone along with the injury-prone Ruben Brown.
By drafting Chris Williams, the Bears can move John Tait back to his natural position at right tackle, which will help solidify the line.
So, everything is set up for Grossman to shut up his critics. All he needs to do is manage the game enough to control the clock, which he started to do last season after he replaced Brian Griese.
During his second stint as starter, Grossman threw for 911 yards, 3 TDs, and only 1 INT, with a respectable 80.2 rating over 5 games.
Teams don’t need a prolific offense to win. Just look at the Giants. They won by simply controlling the clock. Their offense wasn’t dreadful, but it wasn’t pass-happy either.
By doing this, the Bears’ defense can stay healthy and return to the prominence they held not too long ago.
But, critics might say that Orton can do this too.
That may be true, but Grossman has one ability that Orton doesn’t have, and that is the ability to win close games.
Orton is a great game manager, but he doesn’t have that knack Grossman does. Yes, he has a knack. That knack led the Bears to wins against the Vikings, Buccaneers, Seahawks, and Broncos.
Call it what you want. The big arm. The split second decision making. The ability to make big plays. He has the “it” factor. Not many quarterbacks have that. The “it” factor is the thing that has won so many games for quarterbacks like Brett Favre, for example.
Grossman is by no means Favre, but Favre once said that it took him five years to become the quarterback he became. Maybe, like Favre, Grossman is a late bloomer.
Time is running out on this experiment. He’s had three real chances thus far. This season is his last chance to prove himself. After all the problems with the running game and offense line last season, the Bears have given Grossman a mulligan.
If he can’t get it done, then the Bears will look elsewhere for their quarterback of the future. However, this season can definitely be the year the organization sees the results they’ve been looking for. Don’t lose faith just yet. Give it a year to come into fruition.
Then again, with training camp and preseason ahead of us, who knows? Come opening day, I might be talking about why Kyle Orton is the man behind center.
