Chicago Bears rookie quarterback Mitch Trubisky finally made his much-anticipated NFL debut in Week 5, losing a heartbreaker to the Minnesota Vikings at home on Monday Night Football. And despite throwing a game-changing interception in a tie game before the two-minute warning, he showed plenty of promise throughout the game to inject hope for the future.
While the Bears’ hopes to contend for the playoffs this season are on life support at 1-4, this season still has meaning: It’s all about Trubisky’s development. Yes, seeing growth from other Bears draft picks is important too. But nothing matters as much as Trubisky does in the long run.
With that in mind, in our latest Bears Mailbag, we tackle pertinent questions following Trubisky’s largely successful debut.
Wide receiver is a popular topic. And rightly so, given Chicago’s injury list and lack of depth at the position. Cameron Meredith and Kevin White were lost for the season early on. Markus Wheaton has been an injured non-factor so far after signing a big contract in the offseason. This team needs help at the receiver position.
With that said, there’s no doubt Ryan Pace is looking for that help. The Bears promoted Tanner Gentry and released Deonte Thompson earlier in the week, making it clear that the status quo isn’t acceptable. But they still need more.
The trade market is unlikely — game-changing receivers are almost never available via trade. And if they are, they cost an arm and a leg. My SM colleague and Bears Insider, Erik Lambert, elaborated on an Amari Cooper trade rumor earlier this week. While that’d be fun as hell, there’s no way it happens for reasons he outlined in his article.
When it comes to free agents, the Bears have tryouts at various positions every week, even positions that don’t need help. This is in order to have an accurate assessment of available players in case a sudden need arises. So Chicago is doing its homework.
But there’s a lot more to getting help at the receiver position than just bringing in new players. They have to learn the playbook and develop chemistry with the quarterback. That takes time. So even if the Bears do make a move for external help during the next few weeks, it’s not likely they’ll see huge results right away.
For the time being, expect to see a lot of Kendall Wright, Tanner Gentry and Tre McBride. Hopefully, they start to include Adam Shaheen at TE a bit more too.
Bug Howard is another interesting topic. He stirred the interest of many with a Tweet earlier this week after Markus Wheaton’s torn groin was reported. The Bears had him in for a tryout earlier this year but didn’t sign him at the time.
Personally, I’m a fan of giving him a shot. His familiarity with Trubisky helps, but the fact remains that this team just needs bodies to make it through this season. I’m not sure how inclined the Bears are to give him a shot, though. As I mentioned above, learning the playbook will take some time.
The Bears have glaring needs at receiver and outside linebacker. I’d be stunned if Chicago didn’t double-dip at both positions at some point in the draft. I’m expecting the entire WR corps to be rebuilt next year outside of Cam Meredith (lock), and then it depends on what Kendall Wright, Tanner Gentry and Tre McBride show the rest of the year.
I wouldn’t be surprised if three of the first four picks are WR and OLB. Other areas that wouldn’t surprise me to see them target early in the draft depending on how the board stacks up: CB, OT, and S.
Great question. Pending franchise tags and players signing big extensions, the free agent wide receiver class for 2018 has a few intriguing names on it. Guys like Alshon Jeffery and Terrelle Pryor headline the list.
I lobbied for the Bears to sign Pryor in the offseason. He ended up taking somewhat of a bargain deal with Washington, and has made some plays (and money) for Kirk Cousins out there. I think he has a ton of talent and would be pretty happy with him joining the Bears next year.
But quite frankly, assuming he has his injury issues sorted out, I’d love to see Jeffery make a return. He’s exactly what Trubisky needs — a bona fide number one receiver. Yes, his health is a big question mark. But there’s no denying his talent. Put him opposite a (healthy) Cam Meredith and this offense can hum next year.
From a fit perspective, NaVorro Bowman is an obvious one. He starred in Vic Fangio’s defenses for years in San Francisco. But his injury history is concerning. Chicago has been snakebitten at inside linebacker so far this year. If Bowman is healthy, then sure, bring him in. But given his age and injury history, it’s hard to see this happening. My guess is they’re holding out hope that Nick Kwiatkoski can come back from his pectoral injury quickly and get some experience filling in for Jerrell Freeman the rest of the year. That’s an ideal scenario.
Ryan Pace is safe for the time being. Make no mistake – his job hinges entirely on Trubisky. We won’t know enough until after next season, most likely. But I am a fan of what Pace has done overall. The results (read: wins) aren’t there yet, and, in my opinion, that’s due to the head coach he hired back in 2015.
I’m loath to ask for anyone to be fired. But John Fox has to be gone next year. He has to be. It can’t go on like this.
