Heading into training camp, there aren’t many that have confidence that the Chicago Bears will be a team that will be competitive in 2020. And that’s probably for the best, considering Chicago folded under the high expectations last season. And it’s hard to have confidence in a team coming off a 8-8 season with major questions on offense, particularly at the quarterback position.
There are plenty of reasons for concern heading into the 2020 season. Obviously there’s the quarterback situation with Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles, as well as concerns regarding the offensive line and depth at a few positions.
Here are five reasons for pessimism as the Bears prepare for training camp.
1. The QB situation
Anytime you have a competition at quarterback it’s a good indication that you’re not in the best place. And there’s a big question mark involving the Bears’ quarterback situation heading into 2020. Following Mitchell Trubisky’s worst year as a pro, the Bears traded for former Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles to compete with him for the starting job.
But with the shortened offseason and at minimum a two-game preseason, the quarterback competition will essentially play out over the course of a month in training camp. Not exactly a large sample size for Matt Nagy to make the best decision. That should benefit Trubisky, who’s played with most of Chicago’s skill position players for two years and has even been working with some of the newcomers with offseason workouts in the Chicago area.
2. The offensive line
One of the biggest issues on Chicago’s offense last year was the poor play of the offensive line, which contributed to the failures of the run game. And aside from the addition of new offensive line coach Juan Castillo, the Bears haven’t made any major moves to address the offensive line. Following the retirement of right guard Kyle Long, Chicago signed four-year starter Germain Ifedi, who figures to win the starting job. The other four starters from a year ago will remain in place.
Pro Football Focus ranked the Bears’ offensive line as 22nd in the NFL, which doesn’t boast a lot of confidence. Especially given the play of their tackles in Charles Leno Jr. and Bobby Massie. The Bears are banking on Castillo to turn this group around following a disappointing 2019 season. If the offensive line doesn’t clean up its act, it won’t matter who’s under center.
3. Unproven backup to RB David Montgomery
While there’s confidence surrounding running back David Montgomery’s foray into his second season, the same can’t be said for depth at the position. While Tarik Cohen will be listed as the No. 2 back, he’s not your traditional three-down back, and he’ll be utilized in a variety of ways. Just not a power runner. Which means that the Bears have questions regarding Montgomery’s backup.
Ryan Nall and undrafted rookies Artavis Pierce and Napoleon Maxwell will battle for that third running back spot. Which means that, regardless of who wins the job, Montgomery’s backup will be an unproven commodity that might have to step in at a moment’s notice should the unthinkable happen. There are still some veteran running backs on the free agent market, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Chicago sign one of them. But, as of right now, there’s not a lot of confidence in Montgomery’s backup.
4. Unproven depth at ILB
While the defense isn’t as concerning as the offense, there are some questions that the top-10 unit faces from a season ago. Particularly when it comes to depth. Chicago is returning all but three starters on defense from a season ago, but they lost some key depth pieces at inside linebacker that is certainly concerning.
Following injuries to starters Danny Trevathan and Roquan Smith, the Bears turned to reserves Nick Kwiatkoski and Kevin Pierre-Louis, who shined in relief of the starting tandem. It also earned them new deals elsewhere in free agency, which leaves Chicago’s inside linebacker depth — which was a huge strength last season — vulnerable. But with Kwiatkoski and Pierre-Louis’ departures, that should give guys like Joel Iyiegbuniwe and Josh Woods an opportunity to step it up in a bigger role.
5. Shortened offseason/preseason
While it’s a disadvantage that every NFL team will face, the shortened offseason and shortened or eliminated preseason doesn’t serve to help the Bears. Sure, Nagy hasn’t been a fan of preseason in the past, at least as far as playing his starters is concerned. But this year, he was prepared to utilize preseason to get his starters ready and use it to help determine some pretty important position battles, including quarterback.
Now, at the very least, the preseason has been cut into half with two games. But if the NFLPA has its way, the preseason will be eliminated entirely. Which means a smaller sample size and lack of live-game reps to make some pretty important decisions heading into the regular season.
