Now that "WE GOT JAY CUTLER," it's kind of hard to generate any excitement over a new QB prospect.

In years past, any new QB we added to the team became an instant fan favorite. It didn't matter if he was drafted in the 1st, or 7th round... signed as a free agent... came from Canada... or walked into Halas Hall off the streets. Whoever he was, he drew a following.

Well... it should be noted that the Bears signed an undrafted free agent, who may very likely find himself on the final roster this year. Chase Patton (No, not my man Chase Holbrook) was Chase Daniel's backup at Mizzou, and has been talked about as being more NFL ready than Daniel.

Patton has been invited to this weekend's rookie camp. If all goes well, he will compete with two other recent undrafted free agents, Caleb Hanie and Brett Basanez, for a spot on the QB depth chart behind Jay Cutler. With no major investment tied to either Hanie or Basanez, Patton has a wide open shot to land the 3rd string job.

The 6'4" 230 pound QB was touted as a possible Matt Cassel-type in the October 2008 issue of ESPN The Magazine.

ONLY THE NAME IS THE SAME
by Seth Wickersham, ESPN The Magazine

Here's a prediction for the 2012 NFL season: Three weeks in, a superstar quarterback blows out his knee. He's lost for the year. Crushed fans write off their team because the backup, a 2009 seventh-rounder out of Missouri named Chase, has hardly played. And in fact, he starts out looking pretty shaky. But then he completes a few passes. And a few more. Soon he's winning regular-season games…then a divisional playoff game…then a conference championship…then…yes…the Super Bowl! Suddenly, Chase is worldwide. There he is chuckling with Conan. That's him with Regis and Kelly. Now he's inking a multiyear deal. Reporters scramble to Columbia, Mo., looking for clues to his unlikely success. Meanwhile, humiliated NFL scouts wonder how, after Tom Brady and Kurt Warner and Tony Romo, they missed an other hidden star.