http://www.chicagobears.com/news/newsDetail.jsp?id=9229

Bears sign rookie QB Orton to four-year contract
By Larry Mayer
July 24, 2005



BOURBONNAIS, Ill. - Just hours before conducting their first training camp practice, the Bears on Sunday signed fourth-round draft pick Kyle Orton to a four-year contract.
The Purdue quarterback was named first-team All-Big Ten last season after completing 236 of 389 passes for 3,090 yards with 31 touchdowns and 5 interceptions.


Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner is familiar with Kyle Orton from their days in the Big Ten.
With Orton in the fold, first-round running back Cedric Benson is now the Bears' only unsigned draft pick.

Orton improved in each of his three seasons as a starter at Purdue, increasing his passing yards (2,257-2,885-3,090) and TD passes (13-15-31) while decreasing his interceptions (9-7-5).

"I think I am a smart football player," Orton said after the draft, "someone who works tremendously hard to prepare myself for a game. I love watching film. I get in the film room and really just work on that side of the game. I think I'm really good at game management. I really take care of the football and I'm somebody with a big arm."

Orton is expected to be the Bears' third-string quarterback this season behind starter Rex Grossman and backup Chad Hutchinson.

First-year offensive coordinator Ron Turner, the head coach at Illinois the past eight seasons, saw Orton pass for 366 yards and four touchdowns and rush for a fifth TD in a 38-30 win over the Fighting Illini last season.

"He's a very talented young man and I'm very familiar with him," Turner said. "He sees the field extremely well and he got better and better as his career went on as far as doing that. He makes great decisions and protects the ball very well.

"He has an extremely strong arm and has good pocket presence. When I was at Illinois and we were getting ready to play him, he's a guy that we always looked at and said, 'Oh boy. What are we going to do to stop this guy?'"

Orton was the frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy last season after passing for 1,367 yards with 17 TDs and no interceptions in leading the Boilermakers to a 4-0 start.

But his production declined and he sustained separate hip injuries in back-to-back defeats to Michigan and Northwestern during a four-game losing streak.

"It was just tough, the fact that I got hurt," Orton said. "We got off to a great start as a team and individually I got off to a great start also.

"To get hurt and not be able to play in the tough stretch where we lost four games in a row was obviously hard. But I thought I bounced back pretty well at the end of the season."

Orton lined up mostly in the shotgun while operating Purdue's spread offense, so playing in a conventional offense in the NFL will require an adjustment. But Turner worked Orton out before the draft and is confident that the young quarterback will be able to adapt.

"I don't think it's going to be that huge of an adjustment," Turner said. "And we're not looking for him to come in and start right now, so he's got time to develop and I think he'll be able to make that adjustment very well."