Bears rookie quarterback Justin Fields has been quite impressive this offseason to the point where it’s fair to wonder if he could unseat Andy Dalton as Chicago’s starting quarterback in Week 1.
While there was a report from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler indicating that the Bears wouldn’t sit Fields for the sake of sitting him — that he would be given the chance to win the starting job — that might not be the case.
Matt Nagy appeared on the Cris Collinsworth Podcast, where he explained that the plan is ride with Dalton as the starter in Week 1.
“I mean Andy is our starter. Again I can’t predict anything. You know how it goes. There’s so many things that can happen between today and Week 1,” Nagy said. “But Andy is our starter and Justin is our No. 2 and we’re going to stick to this plan.”
Chicago Bears HC Matt Nagy told @CollinsworthPFF that there is no possible scenario that Justin Fields is the starting quarterback Week 1.
Nagy: "Andy Dalton is our starter. Justin is our number 2 and we are going to stick with this plan. You just got to trust the plan."
— Daniel Greenberg (@ChiSportUpdates) June 15, 2021
Nagy is intent on replicating the model that the Chiefs ran with Patrick Mahomes, where he sat for his rookie season behind veteran Alex Smith. But the thing is, the Bears aren’t the Chiefs. Dalton isn’t Smith. There’s no way to replicate that model when you don’t know the outcome of Dalton as the starter.
During the 2017 season, the Chiefs were a playoff team with an MVP-candidate in Smith. But if it any point Smith struggled, you better belief Kansas City would’ve inserted Mahomes sooner than a meaningless Week 17 game.
There’s really no scenario where Nagy should actively be choosing to sit Fields behind Dalton if Fields proves he’s the better option. He might be able to get away with it come Week 1, but there’s only so long Nagy can force Fields to sit on the bench as a rookie.
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