Optimism and energy are never in short supply for Matt Nagy, and the Bears coach is hoping to transform the offense keeping those traits in mind.
The Bears open the season Sept. 13 in Detroit, and whenever they're able to shift football activities from the internet to the field, the quarterback competition will be the focal point.
The Bears' faith in Mitch Trubisky is wavering _ the team declined the fifth-year option in his contract _ and challenger Nick Foles has run a very similar offense with two former teams and has connections with Nagy and new offensive assistants.
The Bears don't need to be marginally improved offensively, they need to be leaps and bounds better than in 2019, when they were near the bottom of the league in scoring, first downs, yards per play, yards per pass attempt, yards per rush attempt and explosive plays _ to name only a few categories. They were bogged down in the opener against the Packers and for nearly the entire season, with few examples of the unpredictability and fun that highlighted Nagy's first year in 2018.
Nagy isn't delegating play-calling duties to new offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, but with the addition of assistants, including quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo and line coach Juan Castillo, new voices will be heard in the game-planning process.
The question is how much different _ and more important, how much more productive _ the Bears will be with what at first glance is a modest series of moves around the quarterback position.
Added to the mix at wide receiver are 35-year-old Ted Ginn Jr. and fifth-round pick Darnell Mooney. The tight end position has been overhauled with 33-year-old Jimmy Graham, second-round pick Cole Kmet and journeyman Demetrius Harris. Former Seahawks first-round pick Germain Ifedi is probably the leading candidate to play right guard.
Ginn, Harris and Ifedi are on one-year contracts and Graham has a two-year deal. Mixed with the rookies, it's a situation where the Bears certainly are hoping the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. They changed, but did they get better in the framework of Nagy's offense?
Here is how the Bears could be different and better at the skill positions surrounding the quarterback.
