FanHouse Caleb Hanie

With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.

Meet the ...
First Chicago Bears team with a franchise quarterback since face masks were invented. A message to non-Bears fans from Bears fans: Don't bring us down. If you want to make fun of us for being a bit overzealous about Jay Cutler, then maybe you should take a gander at the load of crap the Bears have been using at quarterback. From Cade McNown to Moses Moreno to Chad Hutchinson to Peter Tom Willis to ... whatever. You get the point. Let us also remember that having Cutler doesn't necessarily make everyone fantasy gold automatically. The tremors are more real than fantasy.

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Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.

When the Bears made one of the biggest offseason splashes by trading for Jay Cutler, they were left without a first-round pick. Many Bears fans would argue this was a blessing in disguise, considering general manager Jerry Angelo's rocky history with first-round picks (David Terrell, Cedric Benson, Rex Grossman, Michael Haynes).

Still, there were more needs than just quarterback on this team for the near future. Would Angelo be able to fill all those holes with a bunch of second-day draft picks?

Earlier in the offseason, Bears GM Jerry Angelo proclaimed that something needed to be done about the quarterback position. It was an odd proclamation at the time. I mean, obviously Kyle Orton isn't a good quarterback at this point, but there are several other areas that needed to be fixed before quarterback.

Now, as the Bears mull over their options for a replacement signal-caller, it doesn't appear Orton's going to have much competition. As the Chicago Sun-Times points out, the 2009 draft -- at least by the time the Bears pick -- is pretty unexciting when it comes to quarterbacks. The free agency class contains little more than Byron Leftwich and Chris Simms.

While Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton didn't do anything special enough to separate themselves in the race for the QB job no one wants, there may be a dark horse candidate emerging: undrafted rookie Caleb Hanie.

Anywhere else, and this would likely be a laughable proposition. With the futility most believe is contained in Grossman and Orton, though, there's a distinct possibility Hanie gets a look sometime this year. The Bears coaching staff is raving about Hanie's performance last Thursday night:

He finished Thursday completing 9 of 16 passes for 101 yards and a touchdown. None of his passes were sharper than the bullet between two defenders to Brandon Rideau for a 13-yard touchdown. Hanie also displayed more mobility than any other quarterback this preseason, tucking the ball for an 18-yard gain on a third-and-9 play.

"Did a nice job," offensive coordinator Ron Turner said of Hanie. "I was pleased with his poise, pleased with his composure. We've been pleased with him all camp.

"You never know how a guy is going to respond in a game. He was very relaxed, very poised."

If you watched ESPN's coverage of the NFL Draft on Sunday, you probably heard Mel Kiper prattling on about Caleb Hanie. Perhaps it was his 64% completion percentage while running a bad Colorado State team that caught Kiper's eye or an arm that scouts have called strong but something had the helmet-haired one all fired up about Hanie.

Kiper didn't have much to say about Nick Hill from Southern Illinois, who joined Hanie as an undrafted quarterback, but both men are now Bears. Normally an undrafted free agent QB would need more than one break to find their way to the field in a game that counts. Even success stories like Kurt Warner and Tony Romo needed a lot of time and luck.

Hanie and Hill are in a pretty good spot, though. The shortcomings of Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton are well known and each guy should have a chance in camp to make a name for himself. Additionally, the local fervor for a new quarterback should keep them in the discussion long after other teams would have relegated them to a battle for the third spot.

Unless you're convinced that guys like Brian Brohm, Chad Henne, Erik Ainge and John David Booty will be NFL starters of good measure, these signings mitigate the Bears failure to address quarterback in the draft. Not wholly but it gives you a developmental guy who isn't a big step down from anyone who went late on Sunday.