Windy City Gridiron
The Chicago Bears face off with the Buffalo Bills in their second preseason game tonight, and Chicago’s QB1, Caleb Williams, will get the start. But with reserve quarterback Case Keenum day-to-day with a leg injury, we could get a healthy dose of fellow reserve, Tyson Bagent, in tonight’s game.
The Bears gave Bagent the start last week against the Dolphins, and he went 13 of 19 passing (68.4%) for 103 yards (5.4 yards per attempt), with one touchdown and one interception, which was good for a passer rating of 77.3. He was also sacked twice, and he had a nine-yard scramble.
Some fans were split on the performance.
And by split, I mean a Grand Canyon-like fissure, with one extreme claiming it was an outstanding game, while others said it completely sucked. This same divide exists in how some fans view Bagent’s overall skill set. Some think he’s terrible, while others believe he should be QB1.
The truth is somewhere in the middle.
Bagent’s story is awesome, and as fans, we should all be excited that the Bears found an undrafted free agent from Shepherd College who won a roster spot and looks capable of running an NFL offense.
Pro Football and Sports Network (PFSN) recently ranked all the backup quarterbacks in the NFL, and they had Bagent at 30, one spot ahead of former Bear, Mitchell Trubisky, another QB we’ll see tonight.
Here’s what they had to say.
When Justin Fields got injured two years ago, Bagent impressed in his four starts filling in with his grit and flashes of why he was signed in the first place as an undrafted free agent. He wasn’t convincing enough to be a real threat to be a long-term NFL starter, or have any other team calling. Still, he is a nice option to have behind Caleb Williams.
That’s a fairly positive assessment of a QB2 they ranked so low, and I agree, Bagent is a nice option to have on the roster.
The Bears have yet to name their in-game number two quarterback, but Bagent has been Chicago’s QB2 for two years, and based on how he’s been used in camp and preseason, I think he’ll get the nod again this year.
