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Lilwound won the Throwdown.

Josh

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Since the end of the Jim Harbaugh era, who was the worst of the Chicago Bears starting Quarterback?

Lilwound said 01/30, 01:27 PM
It was only one start and the weather was atrocious, but the absolute bottom of the barrel has got to be the single start of Henry Burris in Champaign, against the Miami Dolphins.

After the Bears he played one or two seasons in Berlin with the Thunder of NFL Europe, before dropping into obscurity. There were quite a few crappy quarterbacks, but Henry Burris was perhaps the least talented and had the least right to even be on an NFL roster.

Josh said 01/30, 02:14 PM
You're right, Henry Burris was terrible, there is no denying it. There is no way I can sit here and say "Are you crazy? Henry Burris was a god".

But here's the thing...did we ever expect anything from Mr. Burris? Did we all get excited at the prospect of the Burris era? No, he was the last QB out of the chute in a terrible, terrible year of QBing by the Bears. When the top of the heap is Jim Miller...well...the bottom of the barrel is Henry Burris.

For my money, the worst QB the Bears have employed since Harbaugh...Cade McNown.

First round pick...was supposed to be the future. Was compared (by some mind you) to a Left-handed Favre...due his cavalier attitude (sound familar?). He came out of the same draft class as McNabb...

What did the Bears get?

25 games with a qb rating of 67.7....yum. But he was supposed to bring the winning attitude with him...so he shouldn't be judged on stats like that....

Oh yeah, the Bears won 8 of the 25 games he appeared in. Yay!

So while Burris was bad, no one expected him to be good...but McNown was supposed to be the future...and instead we got a pile of garbage...for my money, that is the worst QB performance.

Lilwound said 01/30, 02:41 PM
No your right, there is no expectations from Henry Burris, but McNown was at least a capable athlete, his main problems were in his resistance to learning systems and lack of teamwork.

Beyond that in two career starts in Bears blue against the Green Bay Packers, McNown was 2-0. As those of us who grew up Bears fans and learned to expect so little from our team, beating the Packers is the most important goal. McNown despite being a first round bust, did just that.

Burris' complete ineptitude to even master the simple task of throwing the ball at an NFL level, makes him lower than Craig Krenzel, lower than Cade McNown, and lower even than Chad Hutchinson.

It's easy to jump on the McNown band wagon when you look at his record as a starter (3-12), but at least he had some talent. In his final two games, playing the second half and then starting the next game, Burris fumbled 3 times losing two of them. In his only start he threw the ball just 19 times, four of them for interceptions, all on his way to a Grossman-like 10.3 QB rating. You probably would have been a better option than Burris.

Josh said 01/30, 03:21 PM
McNown was a better athlete than Burris? That has to be one of the weakest statements ever made. McNown had a terrible delivery, a weak arm, and had mobility but wasn't a scrambler type. He was not a NFL caliber QB, but because of his high draft status got a longer chance to run the team than Burris.

Wow, so he was 2-0 against the Pack...and 1-12 against everyone else...whoopee!! I'll let you in on a little secret, Burris never lost to the Pack either.

So in a game and a half, Burris was unable to master the art of passing or the Bears offense? Wow, that's a fair shake. "Hey, you, here's the ball, a playbook, and...yeah, that's it, get out there." Burris was a 3rd string QB, that was pushed into emergency duty. His chances were zero to succeed.

McNown on the other hand was given every chance to succeed. He was installed as the started in Training camp, the offense was geared towards his "skills" and he got all the snaps in practice. Lot of good that did the guy.

Mr. Burris has gone onto a career in the CFL in which he has lead his team to the playoffs every year between 2004-2007. Obviously, he has the talent to lead a team and throw the ball. Cade didn't.

Lilwound said 01/30, 03:53 PM
Although i maintain that McNown is not the worst quarterback, certainly the biggest bust, but not the worst player, I have decided to devote my life to the worship of Henry Burris as the greatest quarterback in canadian football history. Thank you to those who have opened my eyes!

But I do submit a list of quarterbacks that I would not start over Cade McNown:
Moses Mereno
Jonathan Quinn
Sid Luckman (in present condition)
Craig Krenzel
Ryan Leaf
Andre Ware
Danny Wuerfel
Brett Favre (Just to spite him)
Chad Hutchinson
Rick Mirer

Now if you can't count, five of those players were former bears. three of them even given the chance to start. I hate him just as all Bears fans do, but the plain fact of the matter is McNown was not the bottom of the barrel. And in his brief stint with the Bears, the soon-to-be-great Burris certainly didn't play as well as McNown, even at cade's worst.

I may lose this throwdown, but I've won myself a champion and he is Henry Burris.

Oooooh I just had a thought... The bears need a QB this year... BURRIS BABY, BURRIS!!!!

Josh said 01/30, 04:11 PM
Ah, so I see the new strategy here..."Henry Burris didn't work out, so now I'll play the field!"

Once again though...on that list of QBs, only Mirer qualifies as a player that was brought to the team to start, and given all the benefits of a starter. The rest? Extremely cheap backup QBs that got forced into playing because...well...the Bears drafted McNown and signed Mirer...and Kordell...and drafted Grossman...the list is endless...

But in the end, a cheap crappy QB is better than an expensive crappy QB, because in the world of a salary cap, the expensive bust is a bigger drain on the team. And the failure of a first round pick, especially a QB, is one of the most devastating blows to a franchise. Because of all the time and resources that go into developing a 1st round QB...if he doesn't work out...not only do you have a bad QB, but you've just spent all that time and money trying to make him the QB.

With Henry Burris or any of the other stiffs on the list, you're just out their airfare home.

But Henry is worth your worship, I expect to see a Burris jersey on your back!

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Wow, Josh is actually TDing?

I'm impressed.

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Since the end of the Jim Harbaugh era, who was the worst of the Chicago Bears starting Quarterback?

Josh beat Lilwound 13 to 4

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