There’s not a lot of confidence in the Chicago Bears heading into the 2020 season. And it’s easy to pinpoint the reason why: the offense. Specifically, the quarterback position.
Following Mitchell Trubisky’s regression last season, general manager Ryan Pace traded for veteran Nick Foles to compete with and potentially replace Trubisky. Which hasn’t done anything to alleviate concerns about Chicago’s quarterbacks heading into 2020.
ESPN ranked all 32 quarterback situations in the NFL, and the Bears were named the shakiest in the entire league coming in at dead last.
This might seem low for a team with two veteran starters, but the issue here is that we know what we’re getting with Nick Foles and Mitchell Trubisky. And what we’re getting is underwhelming, inconsistent and perhaps poor efficiency. Trubisky struggled to a 6.1 yards per attempt last season and probably will be replaced by Foles, 31, who hasn’t played more than seven games in a season since 2015 and was benched in favor of sixth-round rookie Gardner Minshew II in Jacksonville last season.
While ESPN makes a good point about the Bears knowing what they’re getting in both Trubisky and Foles, it’s hard to believe Chicago has the worst quarterback situation in the entire NFL. Especially when Foles’ former team the Jacksonville Jaguars rank ahead of the Bears when Garnder Minshew is their starter.
Both Trubisky and Foles have been starting quarterbacks in the NFL, which certainly makes for an upgrade at backup quarterback position regardless of who wins the job.
There were a lot of things that went wrong on offense for Chicago last season, not just the quarterback. That’s not an excuse for Trubisky, but it’s necessary for context when some from a national perspective want to blame Chicago’s struggles all on the quarterback.
If the Bears can get good quarterback play from either Trubisky or Foles — and get some help from the offensive line and running game along the way — it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Bears become a middle-of-the-pack offense at the very least.
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