Who will start? Will Mitch Trubisky earn his last opportunity to prove he can be the guy or will new arrival Nick Foles put an end to that dream? The Chicago Bears don’t know yet. Head coach Matt Nagy made it clear both men are starting with a clean slate. This competition will be fair and balanced right down the middle. Each will get his reps and chances to perform in the preseason. Whomever delivers on what the coaches are looking for will get the nod.
It’s that simple.
One question people have is what can be reasonably expected from either man if they do start. Maurice Moton of Bleacher Report set those expectations pretty low. He predicted the stats lines for both players depending on who ends up winning the job. While Trubisky has more rushing yards, he also delivers more turnovers. Foles is more efficient but less explosive.
“Trubisky goes into a high-pressure contract term with minimal upgrades to his pass-catching group. In Jacksonville, Foles took a backseat to Gardner Minshew II, who was a rookie sixth-rounder.
Neither Bears signal-caller looks promising going into 2020, and aside from wide receiver Allen Robinson II, the offensive personnel looks average regardless of which emerges as the starter.
Projected Stats (Trubisky): 298 completions, 468 attempts, 3,078 yards, 19 touchdowns, 13 interceptions, 55 carries, 363 rushing yards
Projected Stats (Foles): 280 completions, 459 attempts, 3,009 yards, 17 touchdowns, 8 interceptions, 10 carries, 32 rushing yards”
If Nick Foles starts the full year, he’ll throw it more than that
While one can understand Moton’s skepticism, the reality is his measurements are a little off. If he’s going based off Foles playing a full season, then he significantly underestimated how many times the QB will likely throw the ball. For example, back in 2018 he started five games for the Philadelphia Eagles. He threw it 195 times in those games. That would average out to 624 passes across a full season.
Based on the completion percentage and yards per completion from the projections above, he’d likely have around 4,000 yards passing rather than 3,000. That along with 23 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions. Ask any Bears fan and they’d certainly be happy with that sort of stat line. Still, even if Foles ends up having that kind of year, if they can run the ball well enough and that defense stays healthy, this team should still get to the playoffs.