Orton chosen lesser of three evils

Kyle Orton will stick his hands under Olin Kreutz’ butt for the Chicago Bears on the season opening Sunday night in Indianapolis, as the Bears attempt to repeat their 2007 fourth place performance, according to the Associated Press.

He beat out Caleb Hanie, a free agent rookie who probably isn’t ready to challenge for the job, and Rex Grossman, who probably isn’t good enough to challenge for the job on a team with any qualified starting quarterbacks.

The Bears lack offensive parts, which will handicap any quarterback that takes a snap this season. Orton is probably the right choice given that he is (slightly) less apt to give away easy scores through turnovers than Grossman, who has 33 interceptions to 31 touchdowns in 30 starts.

Coach Lovie Smith selected Orton following Grossman’s less than inspiring performance against the blitz-happy Seattle defense last weekend. Orton, on the other hand, led a two-minute drive that resulted in a field goal, receiving praise from the coach after the game.

If I were these two quarterbacks I’d scour the desks of any scouts that might be hanging out at training camp to see if there are any round-trip plane tickets to Tampa hiding anywhere. The Bucs have about 30 quarterbacks on their roster and former starter Chris Simms A) played last weekend and B) apparently looked competent, though C) he isn’t expected to have much chance to stick on the final roster.

If I was the Bears, I’d be thinking of making those Bucs an offer. The spleen-free Simms would be an immediate step up – though you still have no wide receivers.