Question Unanswered: How Does Someone Actually Win the Bears QB Duel?
Everyone talks about the starting quarterback battle with the Chicago Bears.
The great unanswered question about this approaching Bears season is what constitutes victory in this quarterback battle?
It's not like there is a common set of standards or preseason or practice numbers every team follows to determine this. Is coach Matt Nagy making this all up as they go along? Is it even really a battle, and do Nagy and GM Ryan Pace already know Nick Foles will start over Mitchell Trubisky?
"It's going to be a process evaluated over time," coach Matt Nagy said after the trade for Foles. "Like Ryan said, it's a collaboration of Ryan, some of the guys on his staff, myself, along with (offensive coordinator) Bill Lazor, (passing game coordinator) Dave Ragone and (quarterbacks coach) John DeFilippo. Those guys all have extensive background with quarterbacks.
"We're looking forward to that."
More specifically, Nagy was less specific.
"Ultimately, what it really comes down to is winning, scoring points, physical and mental toughness," Nagy said. "And then obviously command and leadership with some other things."
What if Trubisky leads four touchdown drives in preseason and does it in three largely with his legs and not his arm? What if Trubisky has more TD passes in games but Foles has been better in practice? These issues need a resolution.
A starting quarterback battle is rare for the Chicago Bears.
It's rare in the NFL, period. Foles couldn't even get the starting spot in Philadelphia after being Super Bowl MVP. It just went back to Carson Wentz when he was healthy enough to play.
The very nature of the league's pay structure dictates this. First-round draft picks come into the league filling a roster spot, usually behind a veteran the team is preparing to usher out the door.
If it's a draft pick later than Round 1, forget it. The guy is certain of being an immediate backup, and there is no competition.
In most cases, teams follow the Bears' plan from 2017.
The veteran will hold the spot until he proves entirely incompetent or piles up enough losses so there's nothing left to lose by playing the rookie. In the Bears' case it was Mike Glennon stumbling around until Trubisky got his shot.
This is the model likely to play out in Miami with Tua Tagovailoa behind Ryan Fitzpatrick.
It happened last year in New York with Eli Manning and Daniel Jones. It happened when Case Keenum started and Dwayne Haskins watched for a while. There's no way Jones or Haskins were starting their seasons as opening-day quarterback regardless of what coaches said.
The other model is about to happen in Cincinnati and it's a quarterback having the way cleared for starting from Day 1 by the departure of a veteran. This is something usually reserved only for the draft's first overall pick. Kyler Murray did it last year. No one considered Brett Hundley to be real competition at camp for Murray.
But two veteran quarterbacks on equal footing, vying for one to be the starter?
Free agency normally clears away the incumbent and another player becomes starter.
The Bears haven't really had this "mano a mano" QB situation since 2008, when Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton vied for starter.
Even then, they had just about seen enough of Grossman in 2007 after the 2006 Super Bowl loss to know he wasn't really what they needed. Orton was in his fourth year and rarely hurt them while not really providing much beyond average play.
After neither provided an adequate solution, the keys to the car were handed in 2009 to Jay Cutler, and then here we are today.
It's possible we'll start to learn more about what the Bears will be looking for from their two competing quarterbacks beginning this week, because coach Matt Nagy will be talking with media on a regular basis over the next few weeks in the team's virtual OTA program leading up to a possible actual minicamp June 22-24.
Whether the actual minicamp is held depends on COVID-19 and whether progress has been made toward reducing cases across the country. The league is not allowing minicamps to be held for everyone unless every single team is allowed by law in their particular state to have them.
What if the battle is close? How would the Bears determine a winner then? Is it a case where the incumbent, Trubisky, has to be beaten convincingly to lose his job—the old tie goes to the defending champion theory? Or does Foles as a Super Bowl MVP rate the benefit of doubt and actually get favored treatment over Trubisky?
The answers to these questions quite likely will be met with a standard, "It's for me to know and you to find out," or something similar.
In some cases, preseason counts more. Nagy has already said both quarterbacks will have to play with starters in preseason. In some cases, coaches say practice reps count as much or even more than preseason games in determining winners of starting battles.
Hopefully Nagy and Bears coaches can shed a little more light this week on what will be a heavily scrutinized process.
"When you have two good people like we do in Mitchell and Nick, it makes these types of decisions and conversations a lot easier to have because they're competitive as hell, they want the best for the Bears and they're gonna fight their tails off to do that," Nagy said.
The question isn't whether they'll fight their tails off, but how they actually win the fight.
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
