Chicago Bears Q&A: Will Andy Dalton and Justin Fields have a QB competition? What does the depth chart look like at wide receiver? Will fans be allowed to attend camp?
The Chicago Bears will get their first look at the 2021 draft class this weekend during a rookie minicamp at Halas Hall.
Some Bears fans, meanwhile, are looking ahead to training camp this summer and whether first-round pick Justin Fields will get a shot at earning the starting quarterback job over Andy Dalton.
That’s where Brad Biggs’ Bears mailbag kicks off this week.
Do you feel it will be a competition between Andy Dalton and Justin Fields in training camp? Or is Dalton the Week 1 starter regardless? — @kymart29
Nearly everyone is in competition when they set foot on the practice field during training camp. Is Khalil Mack competing for a spot? No. Neither is Allen Robinson. But the vast majority of the 90-man camp roster is competing for a job or playing time during the regular season. Just because the Bears have named Dalton the starter doesn’t mean he won’t have to perform at a level that makes the coaching staff confident in keeping him in that role. Fields will have the opportunity to push Dalton, and competition brings out the best in everyone. I’ve gotten a lot of questions or suggestions from folks who believe Fields should be on the field from Day 1. If Matt Nagy even loosely follows the blueprint the Kansas City Chiefs used in developing Patrick Mahomes in 2017, I’d expect Fields to sit for some time. Mahomes didn’t play until the final game of the regular season. The Chiefs were able to lean on Alex Smith, and we don’t know how Dalton will perform. But if he plays relatively well and the rest of the team plays well around him, there won’t be a need to force Fields into action. So I wouldn’t say Dalton is “the Week 1 starter regardless,” but my money would be on him being in that role to begin the season.
What does the wide receiver depth chart look like? With Anthony Miller on the block, who starts in the slot assuming he’s gone? I could see anyone from Damiere Byrd, Dazz Newsome, Tarik Cohen, Riley Ridley and even Jimmy Graham in certain packages. — @nicklux33
Competition for playing time behind Allen Robinson and Darnell Mooney will be intense. It’s one of the interesting plots to watch throughout training camp and preseason because a ton of snaps during the regular season will be up for grabs. In a perfect world, the Bears would love to see a draft pick such as Newsome take a big step forward as a rookie. That’s what Mooney did a year ago. Cohen could figure in some packages, but one of the drawbacks to him being out in a pass pattern is he’s such an undersized target. That puts more pressure on the quarterback. A depth chart at this point would be a wild guess.
Will the Bears target any more free agents, and if so, which ones? — @fieldstomooney
The front office certainly will keep an eye on the waiver wire to see which veterans or younger players it has solid grades on pop loose. I wouldn’t expect anything significant at this point considering the salary-cap situation. It doesn’t look like the Bears will be in the market for an experienced left tackle. Those players would command solid pay. Maybe that shifts later in the summer, but I don’t see them spending big money right now.
What does the draft and unrestricted free-agent signings tell us about how the Bears view last year’s two seventh-round offensive line picks? Are they still viewed as potential linemen or likely cuts? — @haroldwallin
Odds are stacked against seventh-round picks to start with. When the Bears selected Lachavious Simmons and Arlington Hambright in the final round a year ago, they did so with the idea they could develop them. I don’t see the Bears necessarily giving up on either of them, but they also couldn’t count on them for frontline roles heading into their second season. Hambright got on the field for one start last season when injuries hit. He has worked on the interior. Simmons logged practice time at tackle. Both could be practice squad candidates. We need to see them in preseason action to get an idea where they are. In order to be signed to the practice squad, they would have to be cut and clear waivers.
Alex Bars played well in spot duty last year and can play left tackle, right tackle or guard. Any chance he sticks as a utility offensive lineman? — @nickell53009840
I’ve written a couple of times this offseason that Bars looks like he could be a super sub in 2021. Don’t forget, he also filled in at center last season. Looking at a projected depth chart for the offensive line — and the team hasn’t even gotten on the field for OTAs yet — he could be the sixth man and potentially the top backup across the line. I definitely see Bars making the 53-man roster. His development over the summer and heading into preseason will be interesting to watch.
Am I justified in being nervous about the current makeup of the secondary? Both presumptive starting cornerbacks have injury histories, Eddie Jackson is coming off a down year, the nickel position is in flux and depth is a concern across the board. Can these guys hold up absent a sharp uptick in sack production from Khalil Mack and company? — David D., Rogers Park
That’s a good question and I imagine first-year defensive coordinator Sean Desai has spent a ton of time on that this offseason. If I had to guess right now, Desmond Trufant, who has battled injuries the last two seasons, and Kindle Vildor are the top options to start at cornerback opposite Jaylon Johnson, whose rookie season in 2020 ended prematurely with a shoulder issue. You’re right that Jackson needs to bounce back and that there are legitimate questions about the nickel position. The Bears did re-sign strong safety Tashaun Gipson, who was steady in his first season with the team, so there will be chemistry between him and Jackson. You make another good point that the pass rush needs to improve in 2021 too. While a ton of focus is justifiably on the offense, there are issues to be sorted out on defense.
How much will Mike Pettine be working with both sides of the ball this year? It seems to me he could perhaps be more helpful in the offensive meeting room as his defense absolutely owned Matt Nagy’s offense for the last two years. Will they silo him to just the defensive side? — Philip H.
Pettine has a ton of experience as a former defensive coordinator and head coach, and I imagine Nagy will take his input on a wide array of topics. But the Bears hired him as a senior defensive assistant — an extra set of eyes for Sean Desai, who will be in his first year as a coordinator. So I have to imagine he will devote the majority of his time and effort toward what tweaks can be made on defense. The Bears defense was in a slump for most of the second half of last season and needs to bounce back.
Any chance there will be fans allowed at Bears training camp? — @aarontor
That’s a good question. The NFL is allowing teams to go away for camp this year, provided they submit a complete plan detailing how they will handle COVID-19 protocols. Of course, the Bears no longer are packing up and heading away for the summer. They moved their training camp operation last year to Halas Hall, where access, when life returns to normal, will be significantly less than it was at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais. We’ll have to see if they allow a small number of fans in this summer. I would not rule it out. It also wouldn’t surprise me if the majority of passes, if any are made available, are earmarked for sponsors and season ticket holders.
Besides Justin Fields and Teven Jenkins, which rookie is most likely to make an immediate impact? — @andypaughrules1
That’s a good question and one worth pondering. The Bears certainly need contributions from more than just two rookies. Guys to keep a close eye on are wide receiver Dazz Newsome and cornerback Thomas Graham Jr. As I detailed above, the competition for the slot receiver position should be one of the good storylines to follow through training camp and preseason. Similarly, it will be interesting to see what the team does at nickel cornerback as it replaces Buster Skrine. Duke Shelley could be the first man up for that job, but Graham — who is on the smaller side at 5-foot-10, 195 pounds — might be able to challenge. I imagine fifth-round pick Larry Borom will require some seasoning, but the Bears feel like he could be a starting right tackle in the future.
Is this the most buzz the Bears have had over a QB acquisition? — @hurricaneditka8
That’s probably using selective amnesia to overlook the massive hype in 2017 when the team traded up to No. 2 to select Mitch Trubisky. The hoopla surrounding that pick was through the roof, and I would submit that when the Bears made a blockbuster deal to acquire Jay Cutler in 2009, there might have been even more buzz. Cutler was coming off a Pro Bowl season with 4,526 passing yards for the Denver Broncos. He was 26 at the time and entering the prime seasons of his career. There’s good reason for folks to be excited about Fields’ future and his potential to elevate the offense and the entire team. But I don’t know that his arrival necessarily has created more hoopla than the additions of Trubisky or Cutler did.
Everyone is justifiably excited about the Justin Fields pick, but thinking of the rookie salary window, I’m a little concerned about the backloaded contracts in the years where Fields would conceivably take the next step. Are the Bears handcuffed to too many bad contracts? — @mosconml
Fair question but I don’t think some of the contracts with large (and growing larger) salary-cap hits will handcuff the team too much in 2023 and 2024. By then, there should be a pretty good bump in the salary cap. Barring more moves in the near future that would keep the Bears right up against the cap, they should have freedom to make more moves by then. Let’s be real here, though. The bigger issue is how Fields performs. If he’s playing well by then, the Bears will be in the mix. If not, they will have far bigger issues than a potential cap crunch.
Is Justin Fields wearing No. 1? — @bearsfanpete
That is the number the team has assigned to him on its website.
Sign up for alerts on your phone, desktop and inbox to stay current with the latest news
Sign up for our sports newsletter, delivered daily each morning
