Chicago Bears: Is Foles a bridge quarterback with Matt Nagy?
By Ryan Fedrau
The Chicago Bears have looked to turn the page on Mitchell Trubisky, as they announced Nick Foles as their Week 4 starter against the Colts.
The Chicago Bears are moving on from Mitchell Trubisky as their starting quarterback. The Trubisky era is over in Chicago and I don’t like it one bit. Trubisky is someone who will be successful in this league under the right circumstances. Those circumstances just weren’t there after 2018 with Matt Nagy.
So, now that Nick Foles is the starting quarterback in Chicago, is he just a bridge quarterback while they find their next guy?
Foles is only 31. There’s a good chance if he is successful this season and the Bears make the playoffs and do well, he’ll be back next season, and maybe even another one.
Not to get too ahead of myself, but I don’t see Foles as the average bridge quarterback. He’s still in the prime of his career. He could play in Chicago for a few more seasons before they pass the torch to a younger quarterback.
The only reason why he isn’t with the Eagles anymore is because of Carson Wentz. Wentz and Foles were neck and neck, with the nod going to Wentz, as he was the younger of the two guys.
The same could be said for Trubisky winning the job. The ceiling of Trubisky starting and doing well was higher than Foles. If Trubisky put it all together this season and did well, Foles wouldn’t have ever touched the field. Having Trubisky put everything together at 26 could have set this team up for a lot of success moving forward. Sadly, that didn’t happen.
Under the system Nagy runs, Foles has found the most success in his career. It’s hard to knock him for being stuck in poor situations outside of playing for the Eagles. The Rams and the Jaguars, at the time he was there, were not good football teams. Foles wasn’t changing anything.
Even with Foles turning 32 next year, he could start for another five to six seasons. That is some consistency the team has lacked with their starting quarterbacks. The only issue is, they won’t have a true backup quarterback when Trubisky is gone.
What does this team do for a backup quarterback? They have to draft someone either this year or next year. There has to be a quarterback who can sit and learn the offense. Whoever is drafted will get to sit behind Foles for multiple years and let the game come to him. It’s a perfect situation for any young quarterback.
When thinking of a bridge quarterback, it’s 1-2 years max before passing the torch. If Foles does well, he will be in Chicago longer than that. Trubisky was thrown into a fire too early in his career. They cannot do that to the next young quarterback in Chicago.