by Rickhouse on August 15 at 5:58PM
With training camp coming to an end, we'll be looking at each position for the 2007 Bears. First up, the quarterbacksLast year for my English class, our final consisted of asking a seemingly unanswerable question, and doing your best to explain it in 15 pages. After debating some other topics, I settled on "Why have the Bears always had crappy quarterbacks?" (I thought this was great until I realized the rest of the class picked stuff like "What does it mean to be alive"). Obviously, this is impossible to explain, but it's just a fact of life in sports. The Bears can have two of the five greatest running backs ever, and maybe when it's all said and done, three of the ten best linebackers ever, but all their passing records are still held by a guy who made his NFL debut in 1939. No matter what, it seems like the Bears will always have some bum at QB.
Well I'm here to tell you that the trend stops this year, Bears' fans. For Rex Grossman is no bum, and he is the man to finally bring Chicago a potent passing game. Say what you will about Rex, but as noted in the Deadspin Bears preview, he does not suck. He may be the one of only three Bears quarterback in close to ninety years that you can say that about. Now of course, Rex can still play suck-y, as he displayed in games last season against the Cardinals and Patriots, and, to a lesser extent, in the Super Bowl against the vaunted Colts defense. But Rex has something that the ones before him didn't: the ability to be awesome. Through the first seven games last year there wasn't a better QB in the league. Sure it took it a little nose dive at the end there (and if not for Hester's two kick return touchdowns against the Rams, the Grease Man might have been steering the ship in the playoffs), but Grossman proved last year that he is a legitimate NFL QB. You don't finish fourth in the NFC in touchdown passes and lead your team to the Super Bowl if you don't have talent. Say what you will about Rex but he doesn't lack ability.
I actually think Grossman got a bad rap last year. I mean his stats weren't that bad for a first year starter. He threw for 3,193 yards, 23 touchdowns, 20 interceptions, and had a QB rating of 74. Sure, that isn't great, but for all the pounding the guy took last year, especially nationally, you would think he's as bad as Ben Roethlisberger or something. But he has to be better then that this year, and I think he will be. In fact, should make the Pro Bowl. Anything short of that (and a world championship) has to considered a disappointment.
One thing people don't realize about Grossman is that he lives and breathes football. The guy care more about winning then anyone else, and all he wants to do is play well and have the Bears win. If you read the blogsphere, The Sex Cannon comes off as a brash partier, he doesn't care about anything but cumslinging. While it's hilarious, that really isn't how Grossman is. All the man wants to do is play football, and he's put in a lot of time this offseason to make sure that this year goes better then the last.
The other thing he has going for him is all the weapons around him this year. We'll touch on it more in future previews, but for those of you that don't live in Chicago and may not realize this, the Bears offense is freaking loaded. Just look at all the speed around Grossman. Berrian, Hester, Olsen, Wolfe, and Bradley. That's just plain scary. It has to be the fastest set of weapons in the NFL. Even Rex Grossman can't overthrow Hester, and how can anyone miss Olsen, the guy is a monster, like Urlacher playing tight end. Grossman has all the talent in the world surrounding him on offense this year and he'll take advantage of it. Also, don't be surprised if, maybe for the first time ever, the Bears are actually a passing team. Think about how crazy that is.
While I'm going to wait to the end to give you my prediction on how the Bears season will end up, I'm going to try to give you statistical projections for every major player. Here's what I got for Grossman this year:
Pro Bowler, with 3,700 yards passing, 29 touchdowns, and 14 picks.
I should also note that Brian Griese and Kyle Orton are both solid backups. Orton might even take over the two hole before the season starts; he looked real good against Houston in the preseason opener. They don't have half the ability Rex does, but if he were to go down, the Bears would be better off then most teams. Here's my random Orton prediction, which I've told all my friends but have never put on the internet: before his career ends, he's going to make a Pro Bowl. For some reason, I see it happening when he's like 31 for an NFC North team other then the Bears.
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Comments
14 is still a lot, that's only six less then last year. He does make some bad decisions, but they always come in bunches. If he can eliminate being so high and and so low, i actually think his INTs can be lower then 14. His goal for this year is 30+ TDs and single digit INTs.
BobbyStompy
said
Man, I agreed and disagreed with a lot of that. I don't know. We'll give it time.
I was a big Griese fan last year, but I really think he's fallen off. I was really, really anti-Orton two years ago, but I think he's improved quite a bit (and yes, I'm basing most of it on an assumption of general QB maturity as well as his performance against Houston).
He certainly has more weapons on offense with the additions of Olsen and Hester.
29-14 would be incredible. I'd even be happy with same TDs and less picks.
Yeah, I'm looking at these stats again and this would be an insane season. Maybe knock the yards down 200 or so and touchdowns down about four.....but hey, I'm drinking the Grossman Kollaide. I'm not changing anything.
The yards and TDs are possible, the INT's aren't. He makes way too many bad decisions, and I don't see that changing.