Biggs: Bears nearing 10-year QB carousel anniversary

CHICAGO—The Bears are coming up on a 10-year anniversary of bizarre proportions.

APCornerback Charles Tillman has been a constant in a Chicago secondary that has had regular turnover at safety.

When their sixth game rolls around Oct. 25 at Cincinnati, it will mark one of the most turbulent periods of quarterback play the NFL has ever seen, a stretch that is amazing in that it has encompassed the span of just two head coaches—Dick Jauron and Lovie Smith. Dating back to the Week 6 of the 1999 season, the Bears have changed starting quarterbacks 36 times. Thirty-six, that is correct.

It’s been a dizzying process for them to get to Jay Cutler this season after a blockbuster trade, and it explains plenty about the ups and downs of the organization. Fortunately for Smith, the turnstile clicked more under Jauron as Smith has overseen only 13 of chose changes since taking over in 2004. I bring up these numbers—and the upcoming anniversary—because when the team announced changes in the secondary earlier this week for this afternoon's game with the Pittsburgh Steelers, it led to some work to see how much turnover there has been at safety under Smith. The answer: even more.

Danieal Manning is expected to start at free safety this afternoon, marking the 18th time Smith has changed starters at that position. The Bears have swapped out strong safeties 15 times. Some of the change was the result of recurring injuries. Ex-Bear Mike Brown struggled staying on the field, and inevitably Smith was forced to mix it up each season. Otherwise, it’s mostly been a rotation of late-round draft picks. Manning’s promotion over Kevin Payne isn’t the only change in the secondary today. Zack Bowman, a fifth-round pick from Nebraska last season, is expected to make his first career start at right corner, opposite Charles Tillman.

A look at musical positions under Smith:

Quarterback
2004
Games 1-3 Rex Grossman
Games 4-6 Jonathan Quinn
Games 7-11 Craig Krenzel
Games 12-16 Chad Hutchinson
2005
Games 1-14 Kyle Orton
Game 15 Grossman
Game 16 Orton
2006
Games 1-16 Grossman
2007
Games 1-3 Grossman
Games 4-9 Brian Griese
Games 10-13 Grossman
Games 14-16 Orton
2008
Games 1-8 Orton
Game 9 Grossman
Games 10-16 Orton
2009
Games 1- Jay Cutler

Free safety
2004
Games 1-2 Mike Brown
Games 3-11 Todd Johnson
Games 12-15 R.W. McQuarters
Game 16 Johnson
2005
Game 1 Mike Green
Games 2-12 Chris Harris
Game 13 Green
Game 14 Brandon McGowan
Games 15-16 Harris
2006
Games 1-2 Harris
Games 3-16 Danieal Manning
2007
Game 1 Brown
Games 2-4 Manning
Game 5-6 McGowan
Games 7-16 Manning
2008
Games 1-12 Brown
Games 13-15 Kevin Payne
Game 16 Manning
2009
Game 1 Payne
Game 2- Manning

Strong safety
2004
Games 1-16 Green
2005
Games 1-12 Brown
Game 13 Johnson
Game 14 Green
Games 15-16 McGowan
2006
Games 1-6 Brown
Games 7-11 Johnson
Games 12-16 Harris
2007
Games 1-3 Adam Archuleta
Game 4 McGowan
Games 5-11 Archuleta
Games 12-16 McGowan
2008
Games 1-12 Payne
Games 13-15 Brown
Game 16 Payne
2009
Games 1- Al Afalava

Follow me on Twitter: BradBiggs

Comments

Add a Comment