Man, it sure feels great to be back writing again. With all of the unfortunate madness that has been occurring in our world and the absence of sports, among other things, I’ll admit it has been quite tough to focus on my writing consistently. But I am back and eager to get going here again.
As we all know, football season is approaching us. But due to the Coronavirus, the game’s environment is currently a big question mark. What will Training Camp look like? How many preseason games will there be? Will older coaches, who are at higher risk, participate? Will there be any fans in attendance during games? There are dozens of questions regarding the 2020 NFL season, as no one exactly knows how it will pan out. However, one thing is inevitable for the Chicago Bears this season: We have ourselves another Quarterback controversy.
If you haven't already, please feel free to check out my introduction article, I had a blast putting it together. You will get to know more about me, my background, and my plans for this website here:
We Are Not New To This
The Chicago Bears have been in this position plenty of times before. Inconsistent, shaky QB play has been a staple of the century-old organization, nothing new to us fans. From 2009-2016, the Bears had Jay Cutler starting at QB. While he is, statistically, the greatest to play the position in team history, he nowhere near lived up to the expectations he had as a Bear. In 2017, Cutler was released, and it was finally time for a significant change.
In that year’s draft, the Bears shocked the football world and traded up one spot to grab North Carolina QB, Mitch Trubisky, with the 2nd overall pick. Doing so after they signed Mike Glennon to a three year, $45 million deal earlier in free agency. Bears fans everywhere can agree, at the time, that it was not the ideal post-Cutler scenario that we were hoping for. With that being said, there was nothing we could do about it, and change was needed with the rebuilding Bears. It was time for Glennon and Trubisky to prove themselves.
The Glennon In His Natural Habitat (Credit: SB Nation)
When I think of the Mike Glennon era in Chicago, a part of me cries inside. I, along with most Bears fans, hated the signing of him from the very beginning. After having several underwhelming years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Bears decide to give him $19 million guaranteed to start the 2017 season. Although the Bears had Kendall Wright and Josh Bellamy as their top Wide Receivers, Glennon played awfully and was benched after the first four games. With Glennon out of the picture, it was Trubisky-Time in the Windy City.
Despite terrible surrounding talent and several other team faults, Trubisky had a decent rookie season. The Bears would aggressively build around him in 2018 offseason by adding Wide Receivers Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, (rookie) Anthony Miller, Tight End Trey Burton, and (rookie) Guard James Daniels. Along with a 12-4 record and division crown, Trubisky answered by improving in his sophomore campaign and had one of the best seasons a Bears QB had in recent memory. As we all know, the team’s success was mainly due to the devastating, Khalil Mack-lead defense. However, no one can deny the jump in production Trubisky made, and there was plenty of room for him to grow and improve. The excitement in observing his development was the talk of the town. For the first time in years, the Bears seemed to finally have a promising young signal-caller that fans have been craving for ages. The team entered 2019 with Super Bowl expectations, and life for Bears was fantastic once again heading into the year.
Then Suddenly...OOF
Rather than taking the next big step as a QB, Trubisky completely flopped in the 2019 season. Not only did he take a significant step back, but the team as a whole did with an 8-8, playoff-less finish. Of course, it is Bears fan’s luck that when we finally feel like we had an ascending franchise QB for once, he stinks.
It was indeed an ugly and disappointing season for Trubisky, but he was not the only one who fell flat on their face. With the loss of Guard Kyle Long for most of the year, the Offensive Line took a drastic dive and underperformed after a promising 2018 season as a unit. Not a single Bears Tight End had over 100 yards on the season in 2019, 100! The recurring, yet prominent theme here is that the whole offense was flat out awful. Anyone not named Allen Robinson should have a reason to be disappointed in themselves. It all starts with reigning NFL Coach Of The Year, Matt Nagy, who orchestrated the offense that seemed lifeless for the majority of the season.
Trubisky’s future in Chicago went from sunny to filled with cumulonimbus clouds in one whole year, something that disappointed fans who were not expecting such a scenario to pan out. However, General Manager Ryan Pace decided earlier this offseason to give Trubisky another chance in 2020 and have him stick around. But this may be Trubisky’s last chance in Chicago, as Pace avoided picking up his 5th-year option and wisely decided to add some competition at QB. This competitor is none other than Nick Foles.
B.D.N.
This Is What B.D.N. Stands For Here (Credit: Reddit)
It is safe to say that Nick Foles has had one of the most beautiful, yet strange careers of any QB in NFL history, specifically in recent years. In 2017, after previously contemplating retirement, Foles decided to sign with the Philadelphia Eagles as a backup QB, where he had a successful 2013 season with them. After MVP front-runner Carson Wentz harshly tore his ACL in a massive Week 14 matchup v.s. the Los Angelas Rams, Foles came in to attempt to save the Eagles season. The odds were stacked against him, as they should have been. But rather than crumbling and ruining a promising Eagles season, he decided to write one of the greatest stories in NFL history. Foles cruised the Eagles to the Super Bowl and would take down Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, a performance that would win him Super Bowl MVP and give the City of Brotherly Love their long-awaited first championship.
In 2018, Foles backed up and would replace an injured Carson Wentz (again) to ultimately save the Eagles season and grant them a Wild Card playoff appearance. Enter the playoffs and Foles would run into the top-ranked defense in, you guessed it, the Chicago Bears. After a last-second misfortune from the Bears that will not be named, Foles and the Eagles would advance and eventually lose to the New Orleans Saints the following week.
In 2019, the Eagles would let Foles walk and score a massive payday with the Jacksonville Jaguars. It was the first time in years where it appeared that he would become a full-time starter again. After Foles threw a long touchdown pass to Wide Receiver D.J. Chark early in Week 1 v.s. the Kansas City Chiefs, he would get up and realize that he broke his collarbone. Ten weeks later, Foles would come back and eventually get benched for rookie QB Gardner Minshew, never seeing the field again for the remainder of the season.
Once again, Foles has had a career full of significant highs and lows. I have not even mentioned his rough rides with the Rams and Chiefs in 2015 and 2016. Foles had a disappointing first year with the Jaguars, and his future with the team looked murky with the rise of Minshew Mania in Jacksonville. On March 31st, 2020, things would change for Foles once again. The Chicago Bears traded a compensatory 4th round pick to acquire the veteran QB.
Why I Believe Foles Is The Right Guy For The Bears This Year
Whoever the Bears would bring in to compete with Trubisky would not be someone that would completely change its course. They did not have the money or draft capital to bring in a big name QB, so our options were limited. With that said, Nick Foles was their best option at their disposal.
First and foremost, the Bears coaching staff is filled with ties to Foles. Matt Nagy, Offensive Coordinator Bill Lazor, QB Coach John DeFilippo, and Offensive Line Coach Juan Castillo have a history with him. Foles has played in this offense and knows it inside and out, which is (unfortunately) something that Trubisky cannot precisely say for himself. Trubisky has proven to look lost and confused while playing this past year. Sure, he is still a young, developing player, but you would expect more from him at this point. Even before he was officially a Bear, Foles had this advantage over Trubisky. Now that he is aboard, it should only benefit everyone around in that offense.
A Sad, Yet Accurate Representation Of Trubisky's 2019 Season (Credit: Philadelphia Inquirer)
Foles may not have been the most talented QB available, players like Cam Newton and Teddy Bridgewater would have fit that bill the most. But Bridgewater signed with the Carolina Panthers and would be paid more than Foles this season, and Newton has a scary recent injury history. More importantly, neither come close to offering the system familiarity that Foles does to Chicago. Andy Dalton was the only other QB target that offered a decent system connection than Foles, as Bill Lazor served as Dalton’s QB Coach and Offensive Coordinator with the Cincinnati Bengals. Dalton was realistically the guy I wanted the most because, based on reports, I thought Jacksonville would not get rid of Foles. It turns out those reports and I were wrong, as Foles would eventually get shipped to Chicago.
I will not avoid the obvious here; Foles does come with some question marks. He has never started a full season and had no success outside of Philly. Also, he, like nearly every other QB in the league, carries a heavy price tag. Those are concerning, but combine his evident leadership, history in our offense, and playoff experience makes me believe that he is the best option for the Bears heading into 2020.
Bottom Line
Neither Foles or Trubisky are guaranteed to start; they will have to battle it out and earn everything ahead of them to win the starting job. Even then, once one of them wins the job heading into Week 1, that does not mean they are handcuffed there for the rest of the year. As shown throughout this article, it is pretty clear that (as of now) I am rooting for Foles to win the job. But he is not entirely out of the woods yet. Trubisky will have his fair shot at winning the job, as well. He has shown that he is talented, was the #2 overall pick for a reason, and I firmly believe that talent does not go away just like that. However, there is a LOT to regain after a sloppy 2019 season.
Regardless of what happens, the QB competition will be something to continue to monitor as we are approaching the start of Training Camp. Nothing is guaranteed; a lot could change from now ‘till the start of the season. But it will surely be a thrill to observe and cover what is about to come between Foles, Trubisky, and the rest of our Bears. Stay tuned.
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