There are many arguments that, only a few hours into the 2008 NFL season, would be hard to justify. “Dan Snyder will give Jim Zorn a chance in Washington.” “Shawne Merriman has never used steroids.” “Eli Manning will act like it’s the playoffs all season long.”

And, most certainly, “Kyle Orton is 100 percent professional … all about the X’s and O’s.”

That’s right. A real pro. At least according to Brandon Lloyd, Orton’s rapper-receiver combo.  And theTrib’s David Haugh.

Or you can replace past perceptions with present reality. You can accept that Kyle Orton is different from the guy Chicago came to know in 2005, when he was a rookie forced to grow up quickly as the Bears’ starting quarterback.

[...]“I’ve learned a lot of stuff, and obviously I’m a different guy from ‘05 in all aspects of my life,” Orton said. “I’m different just like everybody else is three or four years down the road.”

Does this sound familiar? Because it should. As E pointed out, it seems just a touch early to be anointing Orton as the prodigal son of Chicago; he does have the 12-6 record and he was secretly a beast at Purdue, but there are a lot of flaws exposed during a game of professional football that even a staunch level of emotional growth can’t cover up.

It’s equally perplexing, too, how in just the span of one offseason, this all managed to happen. I don’t think there’s some sort of Chi-town newspaper conspiracy to make Orton look good or anything, but come on, this is a little heavy on the Orton-savior business. And while it’s feel good, people are going to quickly forget if that TD:INT ratio is subpar after the first few weeks of the season.