Ranking The 5 Worst Chicago Bears QB Depth Charts of All-Time

The offseason is only half over and already Chicago Bears fans are left wondering. Could 2017 go down as the worst quarterback depth chart this team has ever had? On the surface it's not exactly the most enticing group. Mike Glennon, a former third round pick turned failed starter and then backup. Mark Sanchez, a former first round pick turned failed starter and then journeyman backup. Finally Connor Shaw, a former undrafted free agent who flamed out in Cleveland and broke his leg last year. What exactly about this group inspires any sort of confidence that the Bears will be better in 2017? Mind you they just got done finishing 3-13. It shouldn't be that hard to improve on such a record. That's how low the expectation bar has been set. So if Chicago does not make a meaningful move in the draft, this is what they have. The best minds in the world couldn't sell that. Then again, even this group might not qualify as one of the five worst in franchise history. That should give people an idea of just how bad the quarterback play has gotten in this city over the decades. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6Qnk3PNvs4

#5:  The 1973 group

The early 1970s were the darkest ages for the Bears franchise.  They were one of the worst teams in the NFL and hadn't made the playoffs for a decade by this point. A big part of the reason was their repeated lack of success at replacing Bill Wade at quarterback. Something that shouldn't have been so difficult given how average Wade was. Nonetheless, there is no doubt the 1973 hodgepodge they threw together was the low point of those times. Bobby Douglass and Gary Huff were the two members on that roster. Though Douglass acquitted himself to an extent by rushing for over 500 yards that year, the two former second round picks managed to complete just 44.6% of their passes for eight touchdowns and 16 interceptions. It was little wonder that Douglass was given the green light to run so often. Risking his health seemed preferable to him risking the ball.

#4:  The 1993 group

It should've been considered a pretty big omen that the first year of Dave Wannstedt as head coach featured total ineptitude at the quarterback position. After all, he was a defensive-minded coach. Basically somebody who would uphold the Bears tradition of good defense, but totally outmatched by the task of developing a functional signal caller. Fittingly, the gag-inducing performances that year would become one mark of many on his tombstone. It's hard to imagine the team was that bad with a future Pro Bowler and great head coach in Jim Harbaugh at the helm. Peter Tom Willis was no better. Harbaugh barely managed to top 2,000 yards passing. As a team the Bears threw seven touchdowns. Seven. Total. For the entire year. That's a special kind of bad. The 16 interceptions they added just made it that much harder to stomach. Little surprise everybody was replaced the next season.

#3:  The 1981 group

The only benefit that this crop provided the Bears was it played so poorly that it forced the team to make quarterback their top priority in the subsequent 1982 NFL draft. That would be the year they took Jim McMahon fifth overall. It must've been pretty bad to actually force this franchise to take a quarterback that high. Indeed they did not disappoint. The 1981 depth chart was a mix of old, older and late round draft picks who had no business playing. A trio of Vince Evans, Bob Avellini and Mike Phipps was sure to scare defenses on Sundays. Scare them into belief they might not be one who got a chance to get the sack or the interception that was sure to come up at almost every opportunity. If not for the presence of Walter Payton, it's staggering to think how much worse it might've been. Just over 45% completed passes and 14 touchdowns to 23 interceptions? Nobody needs those nightmares.

#2:  The 1957 group

Hard as it may be to imagine, at one point in time the Bears were considered the premier quarterback-developing team in football. Between 1939 and 1949 they drafted three eventual Hall of Famers in Sid Luckman, Bobby Layne and George Blanda. The problem is the latter two of those three got their shots with other teams. It was by the 1950s that the team started its long fall into the pits of quarterback despair, and 1957 was (the first) rock bottom. What's amazing is their primary starter, Ed Brown, was named an All-Star the year before after taking the team to the NFL championship game. He regressed badly the following year though. Together with the somehow even more inept Zeke Bratkowski, the Bears threw seven touchdowns and 28 interceptions. Yep. That's not a math error. Chicago threw four times as many interceptions as touchdowns. There really isn't much else to say.

#1:  The 2004 group

Understand this. It takes a special kind of sucking in order to reach the top of this list knowing that the rule book is heavily skewed in favor of the passing game. That was the case in 2004 more than any other time in these rankings. Yet somehow, even with the equivalent of video game cheat codes, the Bears outdid themselves that year. In fairness they were somewhat punched in the gut almost right away when starter Rex Grossman went down with a knee injury. It was the parade of sadness who came after that still gives fans nightmares even to this day, 13 years later. Craig Krenzel? Jonathan Quinn? Chad Hutchinson? Mere mention of those names still sends a shiver up the spine. Collectively along with Grossman's brief appearance they managed a whopping nine touchdowns and 16 interceptions. Again, this is in an era where it's considered the absolute worst if a team can't put up 20 TDs. Throw in the laundry list of cringe-worthy highlights and the 4-12 record? Yeah, we got a winner.