Chicago Bears: Which QB has edge in shortened preseason?
Which Chicago Bears quarterback has the advantage this preseason?
The Chicago Bears will open up training camp — whenever that is — with an open quarterback competition. How thorough a competition it ends up depends almost entirely on the impacts of COVID-19 over the coming months.
However, based on a recent rumor, it appears the team may not be able to get as much of a look at Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles this preseason as they might like.
While Matt Nagy has committed to playing starters in the preseason, a departure from his first two seasons, there is a chance the league reduces the number of preseason games down to just two.
With uncertainty looming around how much “in-person” time teams will have with their players this offseason, these two preseason games will be incredibly significant.
It will ultimately be up to Nagy to get creative in how he divides up the snaps of these two games to ensure they have as equal an opportunity as possible, but assuming he does, who has the advantage? We make the case for both.
The case for Trubisky
The primary area in which Trubisky struggles is reading defenses and coverages. Unfortunately for him, reading a playbook and attending Zoom calls won’t help much, if at all, in that regard.
But where Mitch holds the advantage is with the chemistry he’s developed with his wide receivers. The fact that he’s in Chicago and has been able to work with his receivers, including Allen Robinson multiple times per week, is a big advantage over Foles.
Furthermore, defenses in preseason games, by nature are extremely bland and basic. With even less time to prepare leading up to the games, it’s reasonable to think they might be even simpler this year. Without his ability to process being severely tested, Trubisky can shine by exploiting those basic coverages with good chemistry.
The case for Foles
Where Trubisky fails, Foles shines. He is well adept at recognizing coverages before the snap and then processing what he sees post-snap. Foles is a veteran with a plethora of experience in this offense and knows how to go through his progressions.
No matter how short the preseason is, Foles will display this ability to quickly process what he sees and get the ball where it needs to go on a particular play.
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The other thing Foles has going for him is he has prior experience with Nagy. Nagy knows he can read a defense. He knows he can quickly develop chemistry with receivers, having done so mainly as a backup in his career. Therefore, Nagy will likely be looking for mere confirmation Foles is still that guy and that he has picked up the offense’s terminology. That shouldn’t take long to do, and so if Nagy is merely looking to confirm what he already believes, the amount of preseason games won’t matter.