What is everybody's assessment of Kyle Orton? Is he a long term answer at QB or is he just somebody holding the job until a better QB comes? Do you think the Bears should be interested is possibly bringing in Donnavan McNabb? I keep hearing all these people on radio and TV saying that they need to find another QB. I keep telling myself that they don't watch carefully enough, but I've heard so many of them say it that I am thinking maybe I am wrong. Let me know what everybody thinks.

Personally I think that he is somebody the Bears can win with. He started off a little slow the first couple of games this year, but really seemed to click until he got injuried. They started Grossman for one game and he was so bad that they have brought back Orton less than 100% and that is the reason that he isn't playing as well as he did earlier, before the injury.

One great team Orton could take you to a Super Bowl, he's 1 full notch better than Dilfer was and is likely to settle in at the solid QB area between Gus Ferotte and Jake Delhomme. If you want a star, wait a a year or two, the QB classes will be good in 2010 and 2011.

I agree with your assessment, but I don't know if I would put Gus Ferrotte in there with Jake Dellomme.

I would also like to see what Orton can do with some good offensive weapons. The Bears have nothing but number 3 and 4 recievers.

I don't think we should let orton go because he has no WR's. BUT I don't think we should settle with the qbs we have now.

I personally like Leftwich and would love to see him come in and compete for the job, not to mention draft a qb.

I agree with you that they should not leave the position alone, but please no Leftwitch. Orton had shown before he got injured that he is a quality NFL quarterback. Is he a future hall of famer...no, but if McNabb comes available they should jump all over that. But if he doesn't they should draft a QB in either the 2-4th rounds and develop them. Nate Davis or Josh Freeman would be good options.

I hate it when people get on here and say something like they can gaurantee it!!! it a big pet peeve of mine.

BUT

I am about to be one of those guys. PHILI WON"T GET RID OF Mc NABB, now I don't like myself for the time being!

Now, now. Enough of that already. Go sit in the corner until you learn your lesson.

Actually, I have to agree with you. Like da Bears, Philly also has basically devoid of NFL caliber WRs and TEs for a good portion of McNab's career. Getting rid of him would doom Philly to the NFC East cellar, because I'm not really a big fan of their backup.

the bears also won with rex. and, rex unfortunately was at the point where, any time he would make just one mistake, they would take him out. i don't care who you are, NOBODY can perform decent with that kind of pressure on them. orton coming back early was stupid, and probably cost them the playoffs (or, is part of the reason for it).




but.....on a team with a great defense (NOT with playmakers, really, on offense), rex DID take you to a super bowl. hell, you could even say that on most great teams, almost anybody could take them to the super bowl. since rex was benched, the bears haven't made the playoffs. yes, there are many reasons this has happened, but if you're going to give the whole "orton helps us win" thing.....um, no, he really doesn't.




who did they have when rex started? muhammed, who dropped everything thrown his way? berrian, when all he did (and, really, still does) is run down the field and have the QB throw it up? i would say that the year jones had in '06 and the year forte had this year are a wash, so the starting HBs were about the same, in terms of offensive weapons. while desmond clark was pretty darn good in '06, i think olson is a better weapon. this same argument (the "better weapons" argument) could also apply to rex.




if you have a hard time watching your QBs get mauled behind that O-line, you'll HATE seeing leftwich back there. it takes him forever to release the ball. he wouldn't get the protection he needed to get the ball out, unless he just dink and dunked across the entire field. and i mean EXTREME dink and dunk.




Orton hasn't really shown anything. he is, stat wise, slightly better than rex was in '06, sure. however, if i'm remembering right, his stats in the last few weeks of the season weren't really all that great. he's a quality NFL backup, maybe, but i wouldn't say he's a quality NFL starting QB.

I like kyle Orton but i'm not convinced he's shown eneough to say he is the anwser at QB.He does some good things but he has flaws.I like his pocket presenceand ball on the slant,But he does stare down his receiverand accuracy and arm strength is shoddy. A plus he doesnt hurt you with too many bad decisions and you can win with that. overall we need to find a franchise qb.

daddy woz

You mention that fact about Muhameed and Berrian with Rex. Those two at that stage in their careers where far better receivers than what the Bears have now. Muhameed was much better than Marty Booker was for the Bears this year. Berrian is better than Hester. Now where Berrian and Muhammed are not hall of famers, but they were better players than what the Bears have now.

The Bears have won with Rex, but they also won with Jim Miller. And they won some games this year with Kyle Orton. Yes he did rush back, but when Grossman started the game against the Titans he played so bad that they didn't have any other option.

The Bears never yanked Grossman because he had one mistake. Do you forget that they stuck by him that entire year when everybody was calling for his benching? The next year he got benched cause he kept getting worse. And then came back when Griese got hurt and kept the job before getting injured for the rest of the year. Then in training camp Orton beat him out.

Orton did play very well before he got hurt, but was still hampered by the injury and he was not able to push off on his ankle and that lead to decreased velocity on his throws. The question that I orginally posted was at the start of the season when he was playing well, as the discussion carried on he got hurt and came back early and struggled. I don't think anybody is thinking he is an elite quarterback in the league, but from what he has shown at the beginning of the season I beleive he is a quality quarterback that you can win games with.

We honestly shouldn't settle for either guy.

If you look up thier career numbers you would be SHOCKED:

Passer rating: Orton 71.1 Rex 70.2 .....0.9 difference

yds per pass attempt: Orton 5.1 Rex 5.63 ......0.53

pass td percentage: orton 3.3 rex 3.4 .......0.1

int percentage: orton 3.0 rex 3.6 ......0.6

completion percentage: orton 55.3 rex 54.2 .......1.1

Alot of it is average quarter backing and not alot of weapons around them.

Bring in chriss simms to compete with orton, give Caleb Hanie(a guy I like alot) a fair chance and draft a QB.

I think WR, OL and Safet are bigger needs honestly, so I wouldn't take QB before the 4th(ubless somebody you wants falls way further than expected)

nobody should have been calling for his head in the first place. i've heard many bears fans cry that they never develop players (especially QBs), yet, when one is going through a rough patch, they want him out of there. you can't have it both ways. rex had one year which was, admittedly, VERY up and down. his good was real good, his bad was real bad. he didn't even reach his 16th professional game until about halfway through that '06 season (if i'm remembering right). yes, he was injured, i get that, but you need a hell of a lot more time to mature as a QB than what he was given.

did he get worse when griese took over? depends on how you want to look at it. i'll concede that poor play was what, initially, got griese in there. but, again, how can you develop a QB when you're not willing to take a few lumps? shoot, the bears could have easily not made the playoffs with grossman, which is what they managed to do without him playing much the last 2 years.

in going along with my developing of QBs thing as well......orton didn't even get a vote of confidence from angelo the other day. how do you guys plan to get a QB up there when you bench them every single time they have a rough patch, or continue looking for the next best thing? none of them are peyton manning, and i'm not comparing them in the sense that either one will turn out like him, but didn't peyton throw a ton of INTs his first year? had be have been in chicago, i'm not convinced they wouldn't have booed him and wanted to bench him. things take time.

and muhammed/berrian being better than booker/hester, while maybe true, really isn't saying a whole heck of a lot, either. and, the gap isn't nearly as wide as you think it is.

i know they stuck by him for that full '06 season, and what happened? super bowl appearance. i'm not saying they got there solely because of rex. i'm not that football retarded. but, you also can't discount the impact rex had on that offense, either, both good and bad. and, just a random question, but how many of the bad games came after they wrapped up the division/playoff spot?

again, his bad was very bad, i get that. his good was very good. with playing time (read: starter all of last season), we would have a better read on whether he would have been able to get consistent or not.

i can tell you a couple things right now. 1) i'm a rex guy, obviously, and you're an orton guy. we'll go around and around until we're blue in the face, and not agree. 2) i'm not even a bears fan. this has no bearing on anything, really, other than to let you know that you're not arguing with another bears fan. i'm a bucs fan, and am hoping rex signs down there this offseason. again, these points only serve as background information, nothing more.

chris simms wouldn't be a bad guy to bring in. i was big on him in tampa, but that just didn't work out.

you won't have to worry about rex in the picture. you already know he'll be long gone. hopefully, as i said, to tampa.

hanie won't get a fair shake, even if they say he will. he'll have the same "competition" with orton that rex had.

you go OL first, WR next, then either safety or OLB 3rd (i'd probably go safety). orton is serviceable, even though i think he's more a quality backup than starter.

So...you're a Rex guy...eh? Too bad. So is Lovie. That's why your team is so far behind the growth curve at QB. If he'd stuck with Orton, your team would be way better today at the QB position. Grossman is NOT an NFL QB. With a lot of work, he could develop into a decent backup. Arm strength? Yes, he has more than most starters in the NFL. So did Jeff George, and he had a great quick release too...and, he was over 6'1", enabling him to see over the OL & DL. Still, you tell me just how did his career panned out. In two words, Grossman is a...COACH KILLER!!! His far and few between moments of glory keep coaches...and fans alike up wondering what could be. Unfortunately, his history is there for everyone to see. He's also injury prone. With coaches and fans like you clamoring for Grossman to play, the Bears only take two steps back for every one they take forward with a serviceable QB like Orton.

Despite what you say about Orton's arm, it is not bad at all. I would venture to say it's better than fellow Purdue alumni Drew Brees' arm...and that ain't bad, my friend. Give him a chance, and the support he deserves, and he's more than an adequate QB to win a Super Bowl, IMO.

On the other hand, how many games did your "vaunted" defense give away this year? You want to look somewhere to throw blame, that's where you should start. The offense, under Orton's direction, scored enough points to win several games the defense ended up giving away. If you go QB in the draft, then 3rd round or later is where you should be looking. The first two rounds need to be used to address that over-rated defense.

i would be more than happy to throw blame to the defense, but the bears aren't my team, believe it or not. i'm a bucs fan. unfortunately, i know more about the bears than the bucs, since the only decent sports radio i get here in michigan is out of chicago (i'm right on lake michigan).

there is nothing there but a year and a handful of games to try to base grossman's career on. injury prone? you bet. he showed that his first couple of seasons. bad QB? i still think that's yet to be seen.

look, i know i'm making grossman out to be the next manning/brady, but i definitely know his career is going to be nothing close to that. the only thing that i have maintained to my very good (bear fan) friend is that i think rex will be a good starting QB in the NFL. not great, not very good, but good. i can understand why people would suggest, based on the few posts i made, that i think grossman is a for sure hall of famer. in no way, shape, or form do i think that.

and, again, based on the grossman "body of work," the only thing you can tell is that he's inconsistent. orton was, quite simply, not good when he played as a rookie. yet, now people are giving him a chance to try to shine again. most of '06 was, essentially, rex's rookie year as well. and, people were calling for his head during that season, and ran him out of town.

i could be completely wrong on this, i understand that. and, rex may not get another shot anywhere. i'm admittedly a HUGE gator fan, which is playing into this a little bit, sure. but, i still think he can be a good QB in the NFL.

The problem is that there have been QBs: Tom Brady, Matt Ryan as 2 very prominent examples and even Roethlisberger and Romo that have performed at a high level with very few starts, however that is not the norm. Look back at the careers even of future hall of fame QBs and you'll see it usually takes 30-50 starts to really see what they were capable of doing. Part 2-Position coaching- How do you know if your position coaches are really good? Colleges and pro franchise come after them to be coordinators, how do you know if your coordinators are really good? Colleges and pro franchise come after them to be head coaches. Did either thing happen, even after the Super Bowl run? I truly think that better coaching might give either Orton or Grossman a chance to be a good NFL starter.

i would think it fair to say the bears haven't had a good qb coach in my lifetime. The best qb in the franchise is Sid Luckman, back in the day when your main form of transportation was fueled by hay and water!!!!!!!!!!!!!