3 quarterbacks of the future the Bears should target
It’s time for the Chicago Bears to look to the draft for their next QB.
The Chicago Bears are still very much in the playoff hunt but, after falling to their second straight loss with an overtime defeat to the New Orleans Saints, it is becoming increasingly clear this is a franchise without a long-term answer at the quarterback position.
Nick Foles’ underwhelming performance against New Orleans, which saw him throw for 272 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, has Bears fans wondering whether a switch back to 2017 second-overall pick Mitchell Trubisky would be the right move to seal a place in the postseason, with the decision to trade for the Super Bowl LII hero looking ever more ill-advised.
Foles had a completion percentage Over Expected of minus 3.8 in the loss to the Saints, completing 68.3 percent of his passes when NextGen Stats projected that he should have completed 72.1.
That is a long way from being the kind of performance the Bears desired when they dealt for Foles. However, the reality is Trubisky has demonstrated little to suggest he would be a distinct improvement and neither has the tools to put the Bears in position to make a run at the Lombardi Trophy should they indeed make it to the playoffs.
The Bears need to start thinking about who their next quarterback will be, and there are plenty of options available to them in the draft.
For a team that already has five wins to their name, likely number one pick Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields, the presumptive favorite to be the next quarterback off the board, are set to be out of reach.
Yet the 2021 draft is one not short on quarterback talent and here we identify three signal-callers the Bears should have near the top of their list of potential new faces of the franchise.
Trey Lance – North Dakota State
Lance had been viewed by some as a prospect who could potentially be taken ahead of Fields and as an outsider for the top overall pick following a stellar first season with the Bison in which he did not throw an interception.
The impact of the public health crisis on NDSU has significantly damaged Lance’s hopes of being one of the first two quarterbacks off the board, with an uneven performance in his one-game showcase against Central Arkansas doing little to help his cause in that regard.
With BYU’s Zach Wilson enjoying a significant rise in public opinion through his starring role for a Cougars team that remains undefeated in 2020, Lance could find himself sliding down the board and to the middle of the first round.
That makes him a realistic target for the Bears, for whom Lance could provide an instant upgrade.
Lance may have played at the FCS level and the sample size for his success is relatively limited, but there is little doubt that his time with NDSU has seen him prove himself as the archetypal modern-day quarterback.
He has the arm to make throws to every level, though his accuracy on deep balls could be more consistent, and offers substantial threat as a runner, blending power on short-yardage with speed in the open field.
Though NDSU plays in a dome, Lance is experienced in competing with the elements having grown up in Minnesota and played his college ball in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
That means you can forget cliched questions about whether Lance could perform in the cold of Chicago, with Bears fans sure to be quick to embrace the Minnesotan once they see the poise and high upside he brings to the table.