Quick, name the top four quarterbacks in the NFL based on quarterback rankings in the first two weeks.
*Drumroll*
No. 4 - Chad Pennington
No. 3 - Phillip Rivers
No. 2 - David Carr
No. 1 - Rex Grossman
Maybe the NFL has slipped into Backwards Land, but Rex Grossman is your new king of NFL QBs so far this season, beating out, uh, David Carr, Phillip Rivers and Chad Pennington. Even Grossman would probably tell you he’s not going to be at the top of that list for long (nor would the other three above-mentioned QBs, for that matter), but the simple fact of the matter is, he’s been superb so far this season.
Heading out of training camp, people weren’t sure what to think of him. Brian Griese had simply outperformed him in practices and in preseason games, plus he had a better history of success in the regular season. He’s also proven he can remain on the field for more than three consecutive games.
Therefore, many people believed Griese should’ve been given the nod as the Week 1 starter.
There was no disputing the fact Griese was the more logical choice. But in the NFL, logic can get tossed out the window. Griese just doesn’t seem to have the “it” factor, if you will, or the leadership abilties to be a No. 1 guy in the NFL.
I can’t explain it, but when Grossman is in the huddle, the players seem to rally behind him more than any other QB the team has had in recent years. More than Kordell Stewart, more than Kyle Orton, more than Jim Miller and more than Chris Chandler, this group of players is behind Grossman. Does that completely explain why Grossman’s passer rating is somewhere near 345.4, or why Moose Muhammed and Bernard Berrian are now making circus catches every week? No, it doesn’t. But it explains why the coaching staff stuck with him through a miserable preseason.
What Grossman’s done so far is perplexing. Aside from his eye-popping numbers — 38 of 53 (71.7), 551 yards, 5 TD, 1 int — he’s made Jason McKie and Desmond Clark look like solid NFL players. Read that last sentence again. It just doesn’t make any sense. I give McKie and Clark credit; McKie has made tremendous strides since being picked up off the scrap heap from Dallas in 2003, showing up at camp as a tweener RB/FB and barely making the team, then floundering on the practice squad before being a mediocre special teams contributor late in the season. He’s come so far since then. And Clark, disrespected by everyone (heaven knows I’m included) after Denver gave up on him, could’ve cashed it in and let either Tim Day or Cooper Wallace take his job (raise your hand if you thought that would happen…I’m raising my hand). Instead, he dedicated himself, lost some weight and, quite frankly, outperformed those rookies in camp. All that said, those guys are still Jason McKie and Desmond Clark. The last two weeks, they’ve looked like Mack Strong and Tony Gonzalez. Is Rex Grossman part of the reason? I say yes.
Now, before we go throw a Rex Grossman parade, we’ll have to see how he does against real NFL defenses; the midseason tour of the AFC East will provide that test.
But right now, if you’re a Bears’ fan, you have to feel pretty good.
Last Sunday was the annual fantasy football league draft at Steve Soucie’s house, which essentially consists of Journal employees and a few other friends of Journal employees.
I screw this up in new and impressive ways every year, because, I have found, I am the worst fantasy football player in history. This is particularly true for auction leagues, which Soucie’s league is.
In an auction league, everybody is awarded a pretend $260 and they must select their players in auction format. Some people like to stock up on the top talent and hope for value later. Some like to buy several strong, but not elite, players. Me? I like to light my money on fire, scream, then cry, and then buy horrible players for lots of money.
It’s tradition.
Here’s how Sunday’s draft went down: The big three running backs go first, selling for around $120 apiece, a rather large chunk of change. I hold back, wanting to buy Tiki Barber and Steven Jackson for a combined $170 later. I really like Steven Jackson. It hasn’t reached man-crush status, but I would certainly buy him a drink.
Soon, Peyton Manning’s name is called. There are two QBs worth having this year, Carson Palmer and Manning. The rest have some sort of reason not to like them. Except for Tom Brady, but I just plain don’t like him. This is why I’m horrible at fantasy football.
So I get Manning, paying $4 more than I wanted to at $54. So that means I have $166 budgeted for Jackson and Barber. I’m OK with that.
Jackson ends up going for $87, way out of my range. Running backs are going for even more than I expected. If I’m not careful, I’m going to end up with Chester Taylor and Kevin Jones. I decide I need two good backs, pay whatever it takes and hope for the best.
In other words, I panic. If I was at a poker table, I’d be on tilt, mindlessly throwing chips in the pot in a desperate and doomed attempt to build my stack. I get Edgerrin James at a good price at $71 and jump the pot to $100 on Tiki Barber, effectively rattling everyone else and securing him as well.
The good news? I have Manning, Barber and James. The bad news? I have $35 left and I have no wide receivers, no tight ends and only two running backs.
Nap time.
When I wake up, Nate Burleson and Derrick Mason are my WRs, Patrick Ramsey is my backup QB (ouch!) and my backup RBs are either unemployed (Najeh “Laundry Basket” Davenport), injured (Chris Perry) or named Ciatrick Fason (eewwwwww). I farted after buying the last one, hand to God. I thought it was appropriate. It made me unpopular. Well, even more so.
Along the way, Palmer went for a steal to Soucie at $23, or $31 less than I paid for Manning, which led me to proclaim that I wanted to punch myself in the privates. People laughed. I was serious.
Why do I do this every year?
