Brian Griese: Worth your free agent dollars?
Brian Griese has been named the Chicago Bears starting quarterback.
Far be it for me to suggest Lovie Smith, Jerry Angelo and the Bears Illuminati know less about the game of football than yours truly. But seriously folks, why did it take them so long to make this move? OK OK, let’s be fair, there were frankly a lot of reasons why sticking with Grossman to start the season made sense…he’s younger than Brian Griese, he has shown an ability to play quite well in spurts, and the Bears seemingly didn’t need Grossman to become a Pro Bowler in order to go deep into the playoffs.
But they certainly expected more than:
- 47 completions (15 per game)
- 89 attempts (~30 per game)
- 53% completion rate
- 500 yards (167 per game)
- 5.6 yards per attempt
- 1 TD
- 6 INTs
Regardless of whether you think Rex Grossman is a talented player or not; the simple fact is the Bears have finally decided it’s time to turn the reins over to 32 year old Brian Griese.
Griese has been a maddening fantasy quarterback.
| Year | Games | Comp% | Yds/G | YPA | TD/G | INT/G | Ryd/G | FPTs/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 14 | 57.7% | 217 | 6.7 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 9.9 | 14.8 |
| 2000 | 10 | 64.3% | 269 | 8.0 | 1.9 | 0.4 | 10.2 | 21.7 |
| 2001 | 15 | 61.0% | 188 | 6.3 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 11.5 | 15.4 |
| 2002 | 13 | 66.7% | 247 | 7.4 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 8.2 | 16.6 |
| 2003 | 5 | 56.9% | 163 | 6.3 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 3.0 | 11.2 |
| 2004 | 11 | 69.3% | 239 | 7.8 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 18.3 |
| 2005 | 6 | 64.4% | 189 | 6.5 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 2.0 | 13.2 |
| 2006 | 6 | 56.3% | 37 | 6.9 | 0.2 | 0.3 | (0.8) | 2.1 |
| Total | 81 | 63.0% | 204 | 7.0 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 6.9 | 15.1 |
1) Griese’s fantasy performance has fluctuated wildly, ranging from excellent (2000 and 2004) to decidedly unimpressive (2003 and 2005).
2) He’s missed a lot of time, having never played a full season even when he was Denver’s clear cut starter
So what should fantasy owners expect from Griese in Chicago?
1) He has an easy schedule — According to Clayton Gray’s strength of schedule, the Bears face one of the easiest remaining fantasy schedules against the pass.
2) He starts with a cream puff — The Eagles just dropped 56 on the Lions decimated secondary, if Griese can’t produce against them this week, it’s questionable whether he will all season
3) Soldier Field isn’t an easy place to play QB – The Chicago Bears home stadium has never been an advantageous place for quarterbacks
Should you run out and bid big free agent $$$ for Griese? I certainly wouldn’t. He’s been solid at times, but never over a full season. And given the difficulties of his surroundings, I think at best you can expect some up and down performances. There will be weeks (like this one), when I think Griese makes a compelling bye week or injury fill-in for your main starter, but he needs to show a lot before it’s worth gambling on him as a regular fantasy contributor.
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