Matt Nagy has a big decision to make this week. His offense was one of the worst in the league in 2019. This past offseason rather than push for a massive influx of more talent, he doubled down on the system. He released most of his coaching staff and brought in guys with more experience. Guys he had connections to like Juan Castillo, Bill Lazor, and John DeFillippo while keeping some stability with holdovers like Dave Ragone and Mike Furrey.
It hasn’t worked. If anything, the offense somehow got worse even though the ranking (29th) is exactly the same as last year. The reality is whatever Nagy continues to try isn’t clicking. Most believe he is a primary reason for that. Yes, the quarterbacks and offensive line aren’t great, but he’s made matters worse with his erratic play-calling, lack of discipline, and overall poor game management.
This is why people are pleading with him to hand the call sheet to somebody else. The hope being they might be able to get the offense into some sort of functional flow. While everybody has their choice for who that man should be, here is a case for the wild card of the group.
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Dave Ragone is a worthwhile gamble at this point
Reason #1 – He knows the system
The thing that’s easy to forget is Ragone is the longest-tenured coach on that staff. He was there even before Nagy arrived in 2018. So nobody is better versed with the team’s personnel than him. On top of that, he has the most experience in Nagy’s system. He knows what it can and can’t do as well as anybody. That knowledge can be critical provided he has a better feel for play-calling than the man who brought it in.
Reason #2 – Lazor and DeFilippo can’t be called “solutions”
People will assume, understandably so, that if Nagy hands off the call sheet it will either be to Bill Lazor or John DeFilippo. Lazor is the offensive coordinator, so that makes him the most logical choice. At the same time, DeFilippo also has recent experience running an offense too. Here’s the thing though. Just because guys have prior experience doesn’t automatically mean they can solve the problem.
In the last four of the five years, he called plays, Lazor’s offense never ranked higher than 26th between Miami and Cincinnati. DeFilippo? It’s fair to wonder why he was one-and-done at all three places he was an offensive coordinator himself. Probably because his units finished 25th, 20th, and 20th respectively in total yards. By this point, there aren’t many reasons to think either of those guys can pull the nose up for this offense. So why not give Ragone a shot?
Reason #3 – He learned under one of the best
Some play-callers are just naturally good at what they do. However, several also managed to get good educations during their rise. Kyle Shanahan learned from his father Mike Shanahan. Sean Payton learned under Jon Gruden for a couple of years in Philadelphia. Ragone also had the benefit of an education from one of the best in the business.
Back in 2015, he was an assistant with the Washington Redskins. That year they finished 10th in the NFL in scoring. A big reason for that was the work of offensive coordinator Sean McVay. The young coach emerged out of nowhere and quickly established himself as a genius when it came to orchestrating offense. Just two years later he would become head coach of the Rams.
Dave Ragone is a former player himself. He played games in the NFL, NFL Europe, and UFL. He has plenty of experience to draw on and received a good education on what to do and not to do when running an offense. The Bears don’t really have anything to lose by giving him a shot.