NFL Draft: Bears Finally Give Rex Grossman Some Upgrades

September 23rd, 2007 - Solider Field, Chicago...

Lovie Smith lowered his head and clutched his clipboard tight, waiting for the seconds to tick down in the fourth quarter as the Cowboys rolled over the Bears, knocking them down to 1-2 for the season.

He saw Romo rip his defense apart, passing for 329 yards and two TDs. He watched in horror as Marion Barber and Julius Jones added another 130-plus yards on the ground.

He watched as Grossman was sacked three times, throwing three INTs. He cringed as Benson only rushed for 46 yards total on 16 carries, fumbling and averaging only 2.8 yards per carry.

He closed his eyes and tried to figure out how his team, who only months earlier came so close to being eternally glorified as Super Bowl champions had now been reduced to a nothing in the league and the NFC North.

A horrible sight to see when Lovie closes his eyes...but when he opened them, he saw something even worse.

He watched a defense that had given up over 400 yards of total offense to the Cowboys walk back into the locker room without so much as a mental scratch from an angered fanbase.

He watched a running back who had managed to consistently do nothing since he took over the starting job for the Bears, follow closely behind and also enter the locker room without a mental beating from the crowd. He watched Bernard Berrian, who had three big drops on the night, including two for sure TD passes, along with Mushin Muhammad, who had a drop as well on a key third down that a rookie could have caught with his eyes closed, follow in the same fashion.

And then he saw Rex.

Rex with his head held high walk into the locker room with fans in his face, booing him, screaming obscenities at him, and hurling vulgar insults. Rex, who had done everything he could to compensate for a joke of a receiving corps and a running back who had become so comfortable with his situation that he gained 23 pounds in the offseason and lost most of his speed due to a bad workout routine.

Rex, who, time after time, fell victim to an aging offensive line that had given up a franchise record 10 sacks in the first three games. Rex, who had fallen victim to a fanbase that was too ignorant to understand that a QB, even the greatest QBs are nothing without a good surrounding environment.

He saw a blind fan base point the finger at the person who was probably the least of the problems at the time and at that moment. Lovie promised himself that he would do everything he could to make sure he would never see that sight again.

...fast forward, seven months later - April 26th, 2008, the NFL Draft.

Roger Goodell approached the microphone with a 4 x 6 card with the 14th overall selection in the draft. It didn't read a QB like some ill-knowledged fans vowed it would. It didn't read a running back, at least not at that point. It read a name that Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton would smile at when voiced aloud:

"Chris Williams, Offensive Left Tackle..."

Ah... music to my ears.

Don't complain those of you who still for some reason think that adding another QB will somehow make the team better. It doesn't matter without an offensive line. It's like buying a carriage before the horse.

This move will help in reestablishing an aged offensive line by placing Williams at the left tackle and moving John Tait back to the right side where he can be more effective.

And the addition of running back Matt Forte, whom the Bears selected later on, will help to perhaps motivate Benson to up his performance a little more, and provide a formidable two-back system which was key in the Bears run to the Super Bowl in 2006.

But more importantly, in a key year for Rex Grossman, it will finally give him a fighting chance to show what he can do with at least decent protection, which Grossman has never really had here. Even in 2006, when he posted some of his best performances, the offensive line still ranked toward the bottom of the league in terms of sacks allowed and per attempts.

The new running back in town will also help take some pressure off Grossman, who literally had nothing in terms of a running game to work with in 2007, particularly before his benching when Benson was the bottom ranked RB in the league.

Here's hoping Rex...here's hoping that the new line will give you time to deliver the ball, that your new receivers don't once again lead the league in drops, that your running game doesn't once again fall to the bottom of the NFC, and that the fans give you longer than one pass attempt to show them what you can do.

Here's hoping.