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QB Brian Griese, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

HT: 6-3, WT: 215, Born: 3-18-1975, College: Michigan, Drafted: Round 3

2008 Projections

Best Case

Griese enjoyed his best season of the last five years as the Buccaneers' starter during 2004, with 2,632 yards, 20 TDs and 12 interceptions over 11 starts. He has had success with coach Gruden before, so if Jeff Garcia suddenly hits the wall during 2008, Griese could step into the starting role without a big learning curve to overcome.

Worst Case

Garcia has a year in the Tampa Bay system now and may be ready to take his game to a higher level. Assuming that Garcia enjoys continued success during 2008, Griese would be tutoring Josh Johnson on the sidelines all year long.

Outlook

Griese would only have value in fantasy circles if he is tapped to take over for Jeff Garcia at some point during 2008. Keep him on your radar for free agency, but he probably shouldn't be on your draft list this year.

Relevant Articles

2008 Schedule

2007 Game Summaries

Week 4 - Griese made his first start for the Chicago Bears and his first touchdown came in the second quarter. It was third and nine from the Detroit 15 yard line and the Lions rushed seven. He stood in the pocket and found Muhammad running a slant in the end zone. His second touchdown pass went to Desmond Clark with just 52 seconds in the game. He threw for 286 yards but one of his three interceptions was returned for a Detroit touchdown. Griese spread the ball around but the Lions were able to sack him six times and hurried him most of the afternoon. He hasn't started in two years, however, and had to be a little rusty. He did enough to keep Grossman on the bench, but that may change if the Bears cannot get some of their defensive starters back or their running game untracked.

Week 5 - Griese managed a good game, especially on the heels of week four's three interception debacle. He was 15 of 25 (60%) for 214 yards (for an 8.56 yards per attempt average) with two touchdowns and one interception. He showed decent instincts and appeared to be growing comfortable as the Bears leader on the offense. Griese preferred targeting his tight ends, throwing eight balls to rookie Greg Olsen and five to Desmond Clark. Olsen and Clark were also the recipient of Griese's touchdown passes. He didn't look to his wide receivers much, although when he did look deep it was usually to Bernard Berrian and it was usually well off target. He was much more accurate with short and medium length throws. His play action pass to Clark was the game clinching score that allowed Chicago to complete their comeback from ten points down. Head coach Lovie Smith mentioned in his post game press conference that he was pleased with the quarterback play.

Week 6 - Griese completed passes to nine different receivers and completed 58% of his passes for an average of 8.5 yards per passing play, but could not overcome the deficit created by the Vikings strong rushing attack. Griese threw a perfect pass to Devin Hester late in the game to tie the score up at 31, and had threaded the ball into Muhsin Muhammed and Bernard Berrian earlier in the game for long touchdown passes.

Week 7 - Griese was having another solid game for the Bears, but up until late in the fourth quarter could only manage to lead the club to four scoring drives that ended in field goals. With his club trailing 16-12, Griese led a 97 yard drive with less than two minutes left and zero timeouts that he capped off with a game winning 15 yard score to WR Muhsin Muhammad. On the drive, he showed his experience and command in the huddle while making big play after big play to set up the winning score. For the game, Griese finished 27 of 41 for 322 yards and a touchdown.

Week 8 - Griese completed five of seven passes for 37 yards in the first quarter. But the Bears struggled moving the chains on the first couple drives of the game. They did get the ball in field goal range in the first quarter, but failed to make the field goal. Griese lead the Bears deep into Lions territory midway through the second quarter, but threw an interception trying to hit WR Mark Bradley in the end zone. He finished the half 12 for 17 for 86 yards and one interception.

Griese hit TE Greg Olsen for a 20 yard touchdown midway through the third quarter after getting great field position on a WR Devin Hester punt return. But the momentum from that touchdown didn't last long as Griese threw his second interception on the next possession. The Bears got the ball deep in Lions territory again after a turnover, but Griese threw his third interception trying to hit Bradley again in the end zone with double coverage on him. His fourth pick would come at the end of the game when he under-threw WR Mushin Muhammad in the end zone. It capped a miserable day for Griese who threw four interceptions and had one lost fumble.

Week 10 - Griese left the game in the second quarter with a shoulder injury, and did not return to the ballgame. Prior to the injury, Griese was 10 of 14 for 97 yards, zero touchdowns and no interceptions and one fumble. He just could not get much going against the Raiders, engineering just one scoring drive before the injury that resulted in a field goal. Griese and the Bears offense looked sluggish, and seemed to get a little spark after the injury when former starter Rex Grossman entered the game. The extent of his injury was not known following the game.

Week 11 - Griese (shoulder) dressed as the emergency third quarterback.

Week 14 - Griese replaced QB Rex Grossman after he went down with a knee injury early in the game. He did not look good in the first half and struggled to move the ball. Griese threw a bad pass that was intercepted by CB Shawn Springs late in the first half and was returned to the Bears 21 yard line. The turnover led the Redskins to their only touchdown in the first half on the next play. Griese's next pass was also intercepted by Springs with five seconds left in the first half. He was nine for 17 for 65 yards in the first half. He was able to move the ball a little better in the third quarter as he had 117 yards passing in that quarter and a 17 yard touchdown pass to WR Bernard Berrian. Griese was never able to make any big plays in the passing game, they had only one play over 20 yards, but he was able to put up pretty good yardage numbers off of 45 pass attempts.