The Chicago Bears seemed to make their stance pretty clear this week when a tweet by the team Twitter page posted a picture of new quarterback Andy Dalton photoshopped in Bears gear with the caption “QB1” over him. Was that merely a smokescreen by team brass in order to keep their real intentions masked? Or was it a statement of fact? Dalton is their guy this year. Get used to it.
It is difficult to say right now. GM Ryan Pace hasn’t made any definitive moves to provide answers one way or another. However, there have been warning signs that point a certain direction. The strong pursuits of top veteran free agents like wide receiver Kenny Golladay and left tackle Trent Williams. The rumors they’re looking heavily into Day 2 quarterbacks for the draft. Not 1st rounders.
Evidence is there. Is it credible enough?
Obviously, trading for Russell Wilson would be nice but the Bears have to be realistic. Pace and head coach Matt Nagy must win in 2021. With Wilson unlikely, their best bet was Dalton. Rather than just bring him aboard and quietly hope somebody better pops free, the team seems committed to making it work with him. One might think of it as what they did back in the mid-1990s with Erik Kramer.
Like Dalton, he had a reputation for being a solid, if unremarkable quarterback who could make enough plays each week to win. He’d taken Detroit to the playoffs twice. Chicago gave him an opportunity. That 1994 offseason, they worked hard to help him. They traded a 5th round pick for wide receiver Jeff Graham. Also, they signed veteran left tackle Andy Heck in free agency.
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Things were off to a great start that year. Kramer threw five touchdowns to just one interception in his first two games. Unfortunately, an injury sidelined him in week three and he was never quite right the rest of the year. A season later though, it all came together. Kramer set the franchise records with 3,838 yards and 29 touchdowns. This could be what the Bears now envision for Dalton.
Andy Dalton has pieces to work with
One could argue he has more than Kramer did back in ’95. Allen Robinson and Darnell Mooney represent a potentially better combination than Conway and Graham. David Montgomery and Tarik Cohen stand above Rashaan Salaam and Robert Green. Last but not least, Jimmy Graham and Cole Kmet are far above Keith Jennings and Ryan Wetnight. What this comes down to is the blocking.
Kramer had super protection that year, being sacked just 16 times. That offensive line had some really good blockers including Heck, center Jerry Fontenot, and right tackle James “Big Cat” Williams. This modern Bears version isn’t quite there. They have some strong talents including Cody Whitehair and James Daniels at the guard spots. At tackle is a greater concern with Charles Leno and Germain Ifedi. They can do better.
With the NFL draft coming up, there is a big opportunity to set the table.
Andy Dalton is better than Kramer was. He’s less injury-prone and more consistent. He’s already proven several times that if given help, he can win football games. This is the mindset the Bears brass is operating under. Do they want a superstar quarterback? Of course. Everybody does. One just isn’t available right now and moving up in the draft in what is a win-or-else season isn’t exactly wise.