NFL Experience: 12 Years

Drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in Round 3

College: Sam Houston State

Best Performance

Week 14 vs. Dallas Cowboys: 36 attempts, 27 completions, 358 yards and four touchdowns

McCown was a fine-tuned quarterback machine during Week 14 of 2013 as the Bears mutilated the Cowboys 45-28. If you were fortunate to own McCown and used in him your fantasy lineup, he by far outranked every other quarterback in fantasy points during this winter matchup. Completing 75% of his passes to top off this week’s success had Jay Cutler fantasy owners hoping he would take one more week of rest before returning.

Best Four-Game Stretch

Weeks 11-14: 1271 passing yards, 105 completions, nine touchdowns and one interception

This was an outstanding stretch of performance by McCown, clearly averaging over 300 passing yards per game. Plus, to only throw one interception in this many yards is an anomaly in itself. Despite McCown’s impressive numbers, the Bears only won two of these four matchups, losing sadly to St. Louis and Minnesota.

Even though the Bears lost to Minnesota, McCown had a phenomenal connection in Week 13 with receiver, Alshon Jeffery. Jeffery was the recipient of 249 of McCown’s passing yards and scored both touchdown passes he threw that game. Fantasy owners and Bears fans could have watched those two play football all day long.

Lowest Statistical Standpoint

Week 11, vs. Baltimore Ravens: 216 passing yards, 19 completions and one touchdown

While the Chicago Bears did defeat the Baltimore Ravens this week, McCown’s performance was merely mediocre, as he completed just 61 percent of his passes and threw for only one touchdown. Scoring a little more than 15 fantasy points was not exactly what owners who opted to start McCown this week wanted either. However, at the end of the day, McCown far out-played his opposing quarterback, Joe Flacco bringing the Bears to victory on their home turf.

2013 Season at a Glance

While McCown didn’t get to play a full season, obviously in his backup role to Cutler, he was relied upon very heavily by the Bears for eight games due to the various injuries Cutler endured in 2013. Overall, when the 34 year-old was called to duty, he expertly performed and did not miss many beats. Unfortunately, despite McCown’s prizing stats, the Bears only managed to win three games during his 2013 tenure.

Completing 66.5% of his passes, and only throwing one interception in 1829 yards, gets an “A” in my book. Perhaps this offseason, McCown should be teaching other interception-cursed quarterbacks a thing or two.

2014 Outlook

2014 is as much in the air as a hot air balloon for McCown at this time. McCown is a free agent, whom the Bears express interest in keeping as their backup. Also interested in obtaining McCown for their starting quarterback role are the New York Jets, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

If McCown remains with the Bears, then his 2014 fantasy outlook is grim. It would be cruel to hope that Cutler goes down allowing McCown to pick up where he left off in 2013. Ideally from a fantasy perspective, most would love to see McCown start for his own team while he still has a couple more decent years of play in his arm. With the exception of Week 11, McCown in every full game he played in 2013, ranked within the top 10 for quarterbacks in fantasy points.

If McCown departs the Bears and earns a starting role, he should be drafted as a high-end QB2 with lots of upside.

Next Up: No. 95, Riley Cooper, Wide Receiver, Philadelphia Eagles