Bears Mailbag – Who Improves Most On Offense Next Year?

Welcome to this week’s Bears Mailbag! I apologize for getting this out later than usual — I prefer to write and post the Mailbags mid-week, but Valentine’s Day always seems to ruin sports-related things. Even when the Bears are BAE!

I’ll get in trouble for saying that.

No big prelude this week: I’ll get straight to the Mailbag. Thanks to everybody who submitted questions!

This is an easy one: If it isn’t Mitch Trubisky, the Bears are in big trouble. That being said, I do expect Trubisky to improve by leaps and bounds the size of the Milky Way.

Two of the obvious answers are Tarik Cohen and Adam Shaheen, too. Expect them both to explode in Matt Nagy’s offense next year. For one, both will finally be utilized the way they’re supposed to, in packages they’re supposed to, and as often as they’re supposed to. Frankly, I had no idea what John Fox and Dowell Loggains’s plans were for these two on offense. But it made no sense. I’m beyond excited to see these two in the offense next year.

I think it’s also easy to take Jordan Howard for granted given his tremendous work the last two years. But imagine what he can do when the box is suddenly free of eight and nine defenders? Don’t underestimate the impact it’ll have on his ability to contribute.

I would like Mark Sanchez back in *some* capacity, mainly because he reportedly made a very positive impact on Mitch Trubisky’s development last season. If Trubisky sees value in him being on the sidelines, then I’m all for getting it done. Whether that’s as a second or third string quarterback, or an assistant QB coach of some sort, remains to be seen.

Chase Daniel certainly makes a lot of sense as a backup QB. He spent time behind Drew Brees in New Orleans, with Doug Pederson in Philadelphia, and with Matt Nagy in Kansas City. He could certainly benefit the team with his presence. Other to-be free agent veteran QBs that could help the team include: Ryan Fitzpatrick, Matt Moore, Austin Davis, Scott Tolzien, and Jay Cutler (just kidding). Kind of … To be honest, I miss Cutty. Having him light up (on the sideline) would be a spectacle. But that’s not going to happen …

Back to the question at hand.

Of course, the Bears will also consider adding a quarterback in the draft. Ryan Pace is on record saying he thinks taking a QB every year is a good idea. He didn’t in his first two years (though he wanted Marcus Mariota and Carson Wentz). He took Trubisky last year, and could certainly be looking to add another young signal caller this year to groom and build their value. Keep an eye on Kyle Lauletta, Mike White, Tanner Lee, and Luke Falk.

The reality is the Bears are certain to have a new face or two in the QB room next year. I’d like to see them draft one and have a veteran to mentor both.

Mason with the double-dip! Appreciate the participation.

I’m not a professional scout, so I could be missing something. But Pro Days and the Combine are so utterly worthless, except when it comes to interviews. I get that they are scripted, but having face time with a player whom you’ve only been able to watch either on film or in the stadium is pretty valuable.

But you’re right, the Combine is absolutely nothing better than Underwear Olympics. What’s the point of the 40-yard dash when straight line speed has nothing to do with game speed? What’s the point of the catching drills when you barely have time to actually secure the catch before the next ball comes zipping towards you? Who cares about the bench press for most of the athletes? It’s all for show.

I like the “academic tests” that some coaches and GMs put players through. Measuring football intelligence is certainly important. I also like the Senior Bowl concept where coaches have the chance to actually work with and mold players and install “game plans” for a week and see how they prepare. There’s certainly some scouting value there.

But as far as the Combine goes, I don’t really know how you fix it just yet. I haven’t had a lot of time to think it through, and frankly the scope of possibilities is pretty vast. But what I do know is that in its current form, it doesn’t really move the needle for me in ranking players. The game film tells way more than a 40 yard sprint ever will.

I am a big fan of Will Hernandez. I think it comes down to what the Bears decide to do with Cody Whitehair. Josh Sitton is almost certain to be released to free up cap space. And the Bears need to pick a position for Whitehair and keep him there. He entered the league as a left guard but played center the last couple of years. Once the Bears have plan for Whitehair, they can start planning ahead.

Back to Hernandez: Though he’s considered “short”, it doesn’t matter as much as a guard and I don’t think that held him back UTEP. He’s a solid athlete and moves pretty well and is strong in the running game. He’s a very “safe” pick and would make a lot of sense in Round 2. It remains to be seen if he’ll be available, but I would not mind him whatsoever, even though the Bears have much bigger needs.