Unless Craig Krenzel starts to resemble Ben Roethlisberger or a young Tom Brady, the Bears’ quarterback predicament threatens to get more complicated.
What happens next year?
Look for general manager Jerry Angelo to bring in a proven veteran no matter how well Krenzel plays from here on out. Next year, the circumstances will be different from this year. Next year, it will be hard to imagine the Bears entering the season with Rex Grossman, Krenzel and Chad Hutchinson as their three quarterbacks.
The Bears purposely left themselves thin at quarterback this year to jump start Grossman’s career. Angelo wanted new coach Lovie Smith and staff to give unquestioned starter Grossman as many practice repetitions as possible without being tempted to share snaps with a veteran.
Angelo did not want to duplicate the Washington Redskins, who have put young Patrick Ramsey’s career on hold by clinging to veteran Mark Brunell. Last week, the Bears made the New York Giants wonder why they have put Eli Manning’s career on hold by going with veteran Kurt Warner.
The plan to force-feed Grossman blew up in the Bears’ faces with his injury and Jonathan Quinn’s inability to play as well as he practices.
Next year, things will be different. Look for Tommy Maddox, Tim Couch, Brad Johnson, Warner, Gus Frerotte, Jay Fiedler or Mike McMahon to be wearing a Bears uniform. Don’t look for Drew Brees or Jon Kitna, who probably would require giving up something in trade. Brees is slated to become a free agent, but he’s playing so well that San Diego is likely to put a franchise tag on him and trade him.
In 10 starts, Krenzel could convince the Bears he is a quality player, capable not only of backing up but competing with Grossman every day in practice.
The Bears can’t allow themselves to get caught up in all the public angst over a backup quarterback; they must keep themselves focused on making sure they have a No. 1 quarterback.
Krenzel could fit the challenger role if, like Brady, he magically improves his accuracy. But what if Krenzel struggles and looks basically like a fifth-round rookie, leaving lingering doubts that 10 starts can’t address? Then the Bears would be facing the same problem the Detroit Lions have–a young prospect backing up a young prospect. If third-year starter Joey Harrington goes down in Detroit, they have fourth-year player McMahon, so-so in seven career starts. The Lions also could turn to veteran third-stringer Rick Mirer, although the Bears know something about that idea.
Because the Bears and Lions plan to represent the future of the NFC North, this whole quarterback subject is worth discussion. Naturally, the 4-4 Lions and 3-5 Bears like to think there is still enough time and opportunity to compete this year. Realistically, this season belongs to the 5-3 Minnesota Vikings and 4-4 Green Bay Packers unless injury intervenes the way it already has in Chicago and Detroit.
Not coincidentally, the Vikings and Packers–who face off Sunday in Lambeau Field for the first time this season–have been leading the division for the last three years because they have more established quarterbacks than the Lions or Bears. And when Daunte Culpepper got hurt last season, veteran Frerotte won two games. The Packers still are wondering what might happen if Brett Favre wasn’t available, but they also believe they don’t have to wonder seriously for another thousand games or so.
The Bears would love to find out whether Hutchinson can play before entering the off-season. But how?
The Dallas Cowboys wanted to find out the same thing last off-season, so they sent Hutchinson to NFL-Europe, where he wasn’t good enough to warrant the Cowboys keeping him. The Bears would like to find out for themselves and, as their unhappy experience with Quinn has proven, that’s hard to do in practice.
For Hutchinson to get any playing time this season, Krenzel either would have to bomb or get hurt, the last two things the Bears want to see happen.
So it is not difficult to imagine this scenario: the Bears finish 6-10 or 7-9 with Krenzel performing like the rookie he is, looking sporadically good but just inadequate enough to leave the Bears puzzled.
What do they do? Hope Grossman recovers and Krenzel and Hutchinson improve enough to go into 2005 with the three of them? Based on the Quinn experience, that would be dangerous.
Based on Grossman’s very short track record, it also would be short-sighted. In Grossman, the Bears only think they have a viable starter. Six starts aren’t enough to confirm that unless your name is Roethlisberger. In Grossman’s case, it’s not so much the six starts that leave doubt, it’s the four finishes.
That’s why the Bears should sign a veteran and tell him he can compete. Obviously, all competition would be tilted in favor of Grossman. But there will be no reason to run off a veteran by telling him he will get no chance. Grossman won’t mind and the Bears will be better off.
