Chicago Bears: An interesting developmental QB option declares

Another interesting, developmental quarterback option for the Chicago Bears just declared for the NFL Draft.

Absent a trade up into the first round, the Chicago Bears — if they decide to draft a quarterback this year — will be selecting someone who will need some time to develop before taking the reigns. Even an uber-talented player like Jordan Love, who could be a target towards the latter half of the first round will likely need some time to season.

That might not fit the timeline for the Bears, who have a roster — absent the quarterback — to win now. Therefore, it is quite possible they bring in a veteran, and select a more developmental quarterback later in the draft. If so, one intriguing option who is also very physically gifted is University of Hawai’i quarterback Cole McDonald, who just declared for the draft himself.

McDonald is a quarterback we highlighted recently as someone to watch in his bowl game. He’s got the prototypical size to play the position at 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds. He’s also got an impressive resume to boot. While completing 63.8 percent of his passes, he threw for 33 touchdowns this season (36 in 2018), to go along with 14 interceptions for a total of 4,135 yards.

However, as we know, statistics do not tell the whole story, as they can be misleading depending on the level of competition, scheme, etc. Both of those come into play with McDonald who plays in a pass-heavy offense in the Mountain West.

Therefore, when you look at the tape, you really have to evaluate his play against that backdrop. However, what is so intriguing about McDonald is the arm talent he has to make some ridiculous throws like the one above, or even throws like this.

The one downside to having a big arm — and knowing it as McDonald does —  is that you can sometimes attempt throws you probably shouldn’t. Consequently, sometimes McDonald makes some bad decisions, thinking he can fit a throw into a particular window. That, along with general decision making, must improve at the next level where decisions must be made faster, and windows are tighter.

However, as general managers continue to search for players with a Patrick Mahomes-like skillset, but won’t get a shot at a player like Jordan Love, they might have a pretty decent consolation prize in McDonald, who with the right development, could be an outstanding value late in the draft.