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Bears Like Their Backup QB Situation But Others Like It a Bit Too Much

Tyson Bagent now has two high rankings among NFL backup QBs but hasn't had the opportunity to prove any of this support is correct.
Gene Chamberlain|
Tyson Bagent has been in Caleb Williams' shadow the last two years since getting his only starts in 2023.
Tyson Bagent has been in Caleb Williams' shadow the last two years since getting his only starts in 2023. | David Banks-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Ben Johnson's mastery with offenses and at dealing with quarterbacks has apparently trickled down to the backup.

There's really no tangible evidence this is the case because Johnson has never had to start a backup quarterback as an offensive coordinator or as a head coach. Jared Goff started every game in Johnson's three Detroit seasons and last year Caleb Williams completed his second straight season with a full 17 starts.

However, Tyson Bagent keeps getting highly rated in offseason assessments of teams' quarterback rooms. It's easy to wonder if the reason is because at the combine Johnson had every one laughing with a comical response to questions about teams trying to trade for his backup. They couldn't actually be basing it on play, because Bagent had only four starts in his career and they came as a rookie. His results were very mixed.

Now CBS Sports' Zachary Pereles has produced his list of the top backup quarterbacks, a few days after Gilberto Manzano did it for Sports Illustrated. Just like Manzano did, Pereles has Bagent in the top 10. He is rated ninth in the CBS rankings while Manzano had Bangent seventh.

"This is, quite simply, a bet on development and Ben Johnson," Pereles wrote. "Tyson Bagent was a fun story three seasons ago, when, as an undrafted rookie, he led Chicago to a pair of wins in a lost season. Never mind that he threw two times as many interceptions (six) as touchdowns (three) in his cameo; it was fun, and the lanky D-II product showed some tools."

Bagent did throw six interceptions to only three touchdown passes. He had only a 71.4 passer rating for four starts and part of another game as a rookie. The two 2023 wins in starts came against two of the most forgettable opponents the Bears have faced in the last decade. He beat the Panther, who were 2-15. They eked out a 16-13 homefield win over that group. He also beat the Raiders 30-12 with Brian Hoyer and Aidan O'Connell combining for three interceptions.

Yet, you'll find Bagent is rated ahead of Justin Fields in both rankings and Fields was who he replaced in 2023 because of an injury. The Bears were easily a better team with Fields playing than when Bagent was playing.

It would be easy to say Fields has regressed since then but what has Bagent done? He hasn't even played, except for last year's trickery when he lined up with the first-team offense and threw a pass to Williams.

None of this is to criticize or slam Bagent. He's a tremendous story as a player who came from Division II undrafted and has received a contract extension. The team loves him and obviously Johnson does.

However, Manzano rating him seventh when Gardner Minshew is 14th and has a career passer rating of 88.0 makes absolutely no sense. The Cardinals' backup has 68 career TD passes to only 35 interceptions, and Bagent's stats are flipped the other way, with interceptions leading TDs at a 2-1 margin.

Davis Mills, Marcus Mariota, J.J. McCarthy, Shedeur Sanders, Tyrod Taylor and Tyler Huntley are all rated behind Bagent by Manzano. McCarthy, Taylor and Huntley are behind Bagent according to Pereles.

Proof is in the production

In all honesty, Huntley made the Bears look feeble in his two starts against them. It's hard for any Bears fan to look at this and honestly put Bagent ahead of him.

Bagent seems to have some skills because he plays well in preseason. Then again, preseason doesn't pose realistic defensive situations.

The Bears can believe in Bagent and showed they did with the $5 million a year they paid him. However, until they can't say with certainty that he is an elite backup. This is something which must be proven, and they have to hope he doesn't get the chance.

The backup QB raters should take a more realistic approach to this task and rely more on stats than hype or even coaches joking around at the combine.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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