There’s not a lot of faith in the Chicago Bears offense. And following a season where they ranked among the worst in the NFL in many offensive categories, it’s understandable.
NFL.com’s Ali Bhanpuri ranked every team’s offensive triplets — quarterback, running back and receiver — heading into 2020. And, as you might guess, the Bears weren’t particularly high. In fact, they ranked 30th ahead of only the Washington Redskins and New York Jets.
Quarterback: Mitchell Trubisky — Rank: T-30 (One game: 31 | 2020 prod.: 31)
Running back: David Montgomery — Rank: 27
Pass catcher: Allen Robinson — Rank: 9
That the Bears wound up paying Nick Foles $21 million fully guaranteed and coughing up a fourth-round pick during the same period in which the New England Patriots committed just $550,000 to Cam Newton makes me want to bury my feelings in some air-mailed Lou’s. I picked Trubisky over Foles in this exercise not because the former is a better player, but because I think the Bears will give their 2017 first-rounder every opportunity to save his job. (It’s already starting.)
One way that might be possible: Lean on the most unheralded receiver in the league. Hard to think of an active elite wideout outside DeAndre Hopkins and Larry Fitzgerald (both of whom hit QB gold later in their careers) who has worked with a more troubling collection of quarterbacks than Robinson (See: Blake Bortles, Chase Daniel, Chad Henne, Mitchell Trubisky). Yet, somehow, he’s managed the 15th-highest yards-per-game mark (66.0) of any receiver since 2014 (min. 300 receptions). Ryan Pace, please pay him.
Montgomery was one of the least efficient running backs in the NFL last year, tying Le’Veon Bell for the second-fewest scrimmage yards per touch (4.0, a tick higher than Sony Michel’s 3.9, among those with a minimum of 200 touches). The second-year RB will have to be the breakout candidate my colleague Maurice Jones-Drew expects him to be for the Bears to have a shot at the playoffs.
Receiver Allen Robinson has been Chicago’s most consistent offensive player, but even he wasn’t enough to pull the Bears from near the bottom of this list. With Robinson heading into a contract year, they’ll once again be leaning on him to be that playmaker that this offense needs.
Outside of Robinson, there are certainly questions surrounding the Bears offense heading into 2020. That starts with quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, who regressed in his third season. Which prompted general manager Ryan Pace to trade for veteran Nick Foles, who is battling Trubisky for the starting job. But with just training camp reps to go off, Trubisky does have a slight advantage in this competition. And his future in Chicago hinges on whether he can take advantage of that.
But another reason for the offense’s struggles last season was the ineffectiveness of the run game. Rookie running back David Montgomery had a solid season, but the lack of an established run game made it difficult for the Bears’ offense to accomplish much, especially given questionable quarterback play.
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