2021 Chicago Bears Preview: Quarterback

By Kevin Schroeder
- Tweet
- Pin It
Updated: September 10, 2021

The QB room.

There was much griping amongst the Chicago Bears fan base when the team signed Andy Dalton. Frankly, there’s no other way to describe the reaction from Bears Twitter than “full-blown meltdown.” This was partly due to the fact that it spelled the end to a saga where Bears fans thought they were getting either Deshaun Watson or, more likely, Russell Wilson. A trade for Wilson was actually close, but Seahawks coach Pete Carroll put the kibosh on it. Dismayed by the fact that Pace didn’t offer Seattle the next decade of draft picks, the entire defense, and the Sears Tower or that Seattle couldn’t just do us a favor, which I swear was an actual complaint I heard, the fan base directed their ire at Dalton. Your author warned the meatballs that threw a fit that a trade for one of the aforementioned stars was unlikely, but the meatballs didn’t listen. I mean, I get it – the team has wandered the QB desert for so long that the fans were willing to cling to even a shred of hope that there was an oasis on the horizon. But your disappointment is not Andy Dalton’s fault.

There was more griping after the team, probably unwisely, sent out a tweet with a picture of the Scut Farkus doppelganger with the text “QB1.” The team had to know the reaction that tweet was going to get, unfair as it may be. And, yes, the reaction is unfair, because, contrary to the belief among the meatballs, Andy Dalton does not suck. A three-time Pro Bowler with a career 87.5 passer rating, Dalton brings stability to the position for the Bears. While nobody’s expecting him to win the MVP award, a guy who doesn’t need the offense watered down significantly, will take care of the ball while running it, and can extend plays when necessary is a sizable upgrade over the various nonsense Chicago has seen since Jay Cutler’s last quality season in 2015.

In 11 games, 9 of them starts, with Dallas last year, Dalton threw for 2170 yards and 14 TDs with 8 INTs. Prior to last season with the Cowboys, Dalton was a Cincinnati Bengal, where he worked with Bill Lazor. From his Welcome post:

“Bears OC Bill Lazor is certainly familiar with him, having served as Dalton’s QB coach in 2016 in Cincinnati and OC there the next two years. In 2016, Dalton completed 64.7 percent of his passes for 4206 yards, with 18 TDs and 8 INTs, good enough for a Pro Bowl appearance. The following year, Dalton’s completion percentage dropped to 59.9, yardage dropped to 3320, but TDs increased to 25. INTs also unfortunately increased to 12. In 2018, Dalton’s completion percentage rebounded a bit, to 61.9 and he threw for 2566 yards, with 21 TDs and 11 INTs before a thumb injury ended his season after 11 games.”

If Andy Dalton is the guy he’s been for most of his career, the team’s in good shape. Early returns from training camp are that he could be more than that, though. From your author’s August 3 camp report:

“Andy Dalton is for real. I had seen reports from the first few days of camp that Dalton had been looking good and, camp reports being what they are (this guy’s great, that guy’s great, everybody’s great), I was skeptical. Mea culpa, Andy. He looked strong running the offense, made all the throws he needed to make and a handful of really nice ones, and took care of the ball. I talked to Kurt Warner at the end of practice – he’s a big believer in Dalton and thinks this can be a 10 or 11-win team. I’ll go one step further – if this Dalton is the guy we get for 17 games, the division’s in play. I don’t think they’ll be able to beat out Green Bay, but they’ll at least make them earn it. Dalton is playing like a man who knows his future prospects hinge upon him being able to hold off Fields and he’s doing just that.”

On a Thursday night in late April, the Bears received a wondrous gift when seven teams* passed on Justin Fields and the New York Giants allowed the Bears to come up and snag him. In an instant, the mood in the greater Chicagoland area changed. The clouds parted and Bears fans saw clear skies ahead. Now, we’ve been in this spot before – the Cutler trade, drafting Trubisky – but this time feels different. Where Trubisky was a high upside prospect that needed some real work, Fields needs to smooth out some rough edges. Where Cutler carried a countenance akin to that of Squidward Tentacles, Fields has real swagger about him. So what did the Bears get on that fateful night in April? From your author’s scouting report:

“Fields has all the physical tools to be a superstar; now, it’s a matter of adjusting to the NFL. His biggest issue is his processing speed and now he’s going up against NFL speed and NFL defenses. It’s an adjustment I’m confident he can make, but he could really use a year to get up to speed before taking over as the starter. Serving as Dalton’s backup for a year gives him a chance to learn from the veteran and not take a bunch of unnecessary hits.”

After transferring from Georgia after the 2018 season, Fields got a waiver to be immediately eligible at Ohio State, where he went off in 2019, racking up 3273 yards and 41 TDs to ony 3 INTs in 14 games, completing just over 67 percent of his passes in the process. He added 484 rushing yards (and remember, in college, sacks count as rushing attempts) and 10 TDS. This would be good enough to finish 3^rd in Heisman Trophy voting. In a shortened 2020 season, Fields threw for exactly 2100 yards in eight games with 22 TDs. Unfortunately, he doubled his interception total. Both years in the Big Ten, he led the conference in passing yards, passing TDs, and passer rating.

While Fields has shown flashes of brilliance in camp, producing some highlight reel material, he still needs to work on getting the ball out faster. Long run, it’s nothing concerning – every rookie QB needs to get adjusted to NFL game speed. Short term – he should get that year to learn behind Dalton.

Nick Foles is still here. Acquired last year from Jacksonville for a 4th-round pick because Matt Nagy (correctly) believed in Mitchell Trubisky so little that he wasn’t willing to take a chance on Andy Dalton or Cam Newton since the team wasn’t able to get them in for a physical per NFL protocol at the time. In nine games last year, seven of them starts, Foles completed just under 65 percent of his passes for 1852 yards with 10 TDs and 8 INTs. He was a guy. That’s it. The Foles-led version of the offense may have been better were it not for a slew of injuries to the offensive line, but even then, the Bears would have made upgrading the position a major priority this off-season. Foles just is who he is. Thus far in camp, he’s been mediocre at best. His comments leading up to camp sound like he’s hoping for a trade. That would be the ideal outcome.

*I know Fields went 11^th. Three teams took QBs that I had graded higher than Fields.

Twitter: @KSchroeder_312