Everybody should know the situation by now. The Chicago Bears need a quarterback. Badly. It’s been that way for many years but this offseason, in particular, is pressing. Why? Namely, because a lot of jobs are on the line if they fail to land one. GM Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy headline that list. George McCaskey kept them around for another season, but it’s obvious they’re on a short leash.
They need to win in 2021 and they aren’t going to win without a quarterback. Mitch Trubisky is a free agent. Nick Foles fumbled his opportunity away this past season. Signs point to them venturing out into either the veteran market or the draft to find their guy. Expectations are they will try to find a top veteran. Somebody of serious name value who can win immediately. Deshaun Watson is the obvious one to watch.
If not him then Dak Prescott, Matt Ryan, and Derek Carr will be considered too.
The odds of landing any of those guys though? Let’s just say they aren’t favorable. So one question should be asked. If the veteran market doesn’t line up the way they want it, will the Bears gamble on the draft? Fans certainly hope not. Pace already proved his inability to evaluate talent coming out of college with that Trubisky debacle. Why trust him this time?
The common argument for that is he has Nagy with him this time. Nagy is a former quarterback and quarterbacks coach. He’s born and bred to recognize the difference between those that have it and those that don’t. Still, there are plenty of skeptics. Then again, Bears analyst Laurence Holmes revealed on his radio program recently that the head coach may be better at this QB scouting thing than people realize.
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Matt Nagy nailed those evaluations in every way
It also explains a lot about why he soured on Trubisky as fast as he did. He came in viewing the young quarterback as a project from the start. Somebody that would take a lot of work to get right. In hindsight, people shouldn’t have been too surprised when Nagy started to lose patience by 2019. Especially after that opening night debacle against Green Bay.
People kept accusing him of not doing enough to mold the offense to Trubisky’s strengths. While that criticism is fair, this new information at least offers a reason as to why he was reluctant to do so. He likely felt it was a waste of time. If Trubisky couldn’t run his offense, one that was built to be as quarterback-friendly as possible, then it was clear he wasn’t the guy.
Now comes the big moment. Will the Bears let him pick his own QB?
Matt Nagy would be the first to be allowed that honor in a long, long time. Trubisky was not John Fox’s choice in 2017. Nor was Rex Grossman Dick Jauron’s. Both were primary acquisitions coveted by the GMs. Can Pace be trusted to not overrule Nagy? He had no problem doing it with Fox who reportedly wanted Deshaun Watson. Conceding such an important decision to someone else doesn’t seem like something he’d do.
Even if that someone is more qualified to evaluate it than he is. For his sake and the sake of the franchise, he best shut up and listen.