Foles adds experience, competition to QB room
Recognizing the need to improve the quarterback position, the Bears traded their compensatory fourth-round pick (No. 140 overall) to the Jacksonville Jaguars for veteran quarterback Nick Foles on Wednesday.
The move was met with a range of emotions from both fans and analysts across the spectrum. Some felt the Bears panicked, while others insist the team nailed it.
Per usual, I tend to fall somewhere in between, leaning toward the belief that it was a good move, and the right move. The Bears needed to upgrade the quarterback position and bring in competition for Mitch Trubisky, and that’s exactly what they did.
Foles brings experience to the table
Foles’ extensive ties to the Bears coaching staff have been well documented. He has experience working with head coach Matt Nagy, offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, and quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo.
Foles also is well versed in Nagy’s system, including the schemes and concepts, from spending time in Doug Pederson’s offense in Philadelphia and Andy Reid’s system in Kansas City.
As Louis Riddick of ESPN notes: “He could walk in there and start right now because of his familiarity with the offense.”
That’s a good thing for the Bears. It’s also a great thing for Mitch Trubisky.
Foles brings true competition for Trubisky
One has to wonder what was going through Trubisky’s mind as he heard rumors of the Bears’ interest in acquiring a quarterback this offseason. And not just any quarterback like Chase Daniel or Tyler Bray brought in to fill out the depth chart. But legitimate NFL quarterbacks with starting experience.
One also has to wonder what Trubisky felt as teammate Cordarelle Patterson was openly recruiting other quarterbacks on Twitter. (He later tweeted, “If y’all didn’t know. I ONLY tweeted at the players I’ve played with!!!” and that “Mitch is the number 1. We just like to compete and have fun.”)
Still, the writing was on the wall and became clearly evident to Trubisky that he was no longer the “anointed one,” that his status of being a former second-overall draft pick no longer carried an air of invincibility.
That could be the best thing to happen to Trubisky since being selected before Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson in the 2017 NFL Draft.
As humans, we are naturally competitive. It’s our survival instincts paired with our selfish pride. For professional athletes, that competitive nature is ten times stronger because it’s their jobs that are on the line.
Only two things can happen if the Bears play their cards right. Either Foles teaches and pushes Trubisky to the next level, or Trubisky crumbles under the pressure and his time as a presumed NFL starter is finished.
So, who starts? Foles or Trubisky?
Inquiring minds want to know: Will Foles be handed the starting job? Will there be an open competition this offseason? Or, will Trubisky retain the starting job while Foles (and the fan base) openly push him to be better?
I tend to think that Option C is the route the Bears will take. In a perfect world, Trubisky would feel the heat, competition would bring out the best in him, and he would play his best ball as a pro.
But we don’t live in a perfect world, and it’s quite possible that we’ve already seen Trubisky’s best.
And if that’s the case, it’s comfortable knowing that the Bears have an alternate starting quarterback who not only is familiar with the offense — as Chase Daniel was — but has actually thrived and won a Super Bowl while executing it.