| Kyle Trompeter. 15th August, 2005 - 3:14 am
 Three years in the NFL and still just six career games under his belt. With a broken left ankle sustained last Friday against the St. Louis Rams, Chicago Bears quarterback Rex Grossman will miss 3-4 months and most likely the remainder of the season. This will be the third straight year Grossman has suffered a season ending injury, and quite frankly, this storyline is starting to get a little old. However, contrary to popular belief, the season is not lost without Grossman leading the way for many reasons.
For starters, its only one player! Granted, the quarterback position is a very vital part of a football team and Offensive Coordinator Ron Turner’s offense, which will feature a lot more passing than there has been in the past few seasons. But, losing the quarterback in this offense is not a devastating as it would be as opposed to losing the running back. The Bears are a power running team and they have been for as long as the Chicago Bears have been a football franchise. No matter how much more they throw the football this season, this offense will still be known more for running the football with Cedric Benson and Thomas Jones carrying the rock.
Another thing to take into consideration is that this team has upgraded or gotten healthy at every position. From offensive tackle to kicker, the Bears have brought in a lot of new faces, like All Pro WR Muhsin Muhammad, Benson, OT Fred Miller, K Doug Brien, QB Kyle Orton, and OG Roberto Garza. Just as important, the Bears have healthy bodies back on the field for the entire season, such as S Mike Brown, LB Brian Urlacher, CB Charles Tillman, DE Adewale Ogunleye, and OG Ruben Brown. I mention these players because last season when QB Chad Hutchinson ran the offense, these players were either inactive due to injury or they were playing hurt. Now the team is at full strength with the exception of a banged up CB Jerry Azumah, who will be back by opening day.
Let me preface this last point with the fact that I really believed Grossman was going to have a breakout year before his injury. He has the tools to be a successful quarterback in the NFL. But with that said, is Grossman any more proven as an NFL QB than say, Hutchinson or even the rookie Orton? Let’s face it, Rex has played in only six games. He is just as much of an unknown at the helm as Hutchinson is. Hutchinson started the last five games of the 2004 season for the Bears. The last time Grossman started that many in a row he was tossing the pigskin for then Florida coach Ron Zook in Gainsville.
With the right protection and a good pocket to throw in, Hutchinson has the ability to be a more than serviceable NFL quarterback. It was not long ago that the St. Louis Cardinals had a young pitching prospect whose fastball could be thrown threw a brick wall. That pitchers name was Chad Hutchinson. Same Guy. So he’s got the arm to get the ball to guys like Muhammad. Coupled with a strong running attack, the offense will not rely sole on the quarterback.
To me, a bigger loss would be to lose Urlacher or Mike Brown, the two anchors of the defense. Their absence would have a huge ripple effect on the entire defense that would be devastating. In Grossman’s case, he will be missed but may be forgotten if Hutchinson or Orton can step up and take the keys to the offense and never give them back. The last Bears quarterback to start all 16 regular season games was Erik Kramer in 1995. Let the Chad Hutchinson era begin! |
