LAKE FOREST, Ill. — After a wildly successful first year under head coach Matt Nagy, the levels of anticipation for the Chicago Bears’ 2019 season are through the roof. This team is fun and exciting. Here’s a clip from earlier this week that reinforces that notion:
Seriously, who doesn’t want to be a part of this?!
And after an impressive NFL Draft weekend where Ryan Pace made the most of his limited picks by bringing in future key players such as RB David Montgomery and WR Riley Ridley, the Bears take the next step in building for September, today: OTAs begin at Halas Hall.
Despite this team and roster being largely set from top to bottom, there are a few critical things to look out for as OTAs get underway. I outline them below:
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How smoothly is Mitch Trubisky running the offense?
Trubisky comes in as the Bears’ unquestioned starter at quarterback, not that that was actually in question. But this is a key season for the young signal caller. He showed plenty growth throughout his first year under Nagy, but still demonstrated enough bouts of inexperience to make skepticism not entirely unfair. There are plenty of things he must clean up in Year 2 under Nagy and Year 3 in the NFL. The Bears’ reasonable Super Bowl hopes depend on him taking the next step.
The Bears will need to make a decision on his fifth-year option after this season. I don’t think there’s much doubt that they will exercise it, but in the unlikely scenario where he falls apart or just doesn’t progress to the level that Pace and Nagy are expecting, then the Bears will have an interesting decision to make.
Of course, how the offense shows in OTAs will not the be-all, end-all indicator of this upcoming season or Trubisky’s individual status. But a strong performance against the Bears’ monster of a defense would go a long way in building some momentum.
Here’s the kicker!
Maybe; maybe not. But after a crazy kicking competition during rookie minicamp that resulted in Chicago cutting everyone except for Chris Blewitt and Elliott Fry, the Bears then went out and traded for Eddy Piniero from the Oakland Raiders.
I won’t beat a dead horse — we all know why this is important: Something something, Cody Parkey, something, Double-Doink, something something, lost to Philadelphia.
Sorry, I guess I beat the dead horse anyway.
Point being: The Bears believe they have something in each one of these kickers. There’s a possibility that none of them will be on the roster Week 1 at Soldier Field against Green Bay, but chances are the Bears think they have their guy on the roster right now. Each kicker is intriguing in their own way.
May the best man win. And may the winner have a lengthy and wildly successful career in Chicago.
For the love of football, stay healthy
As far as other things to watch go, I could’ve brought up David Montgomery’s immersion into the offense. I could’ve brought up the wide receiver competition between Javon Wims, Emanuel Hall, and Marvin Hall. I could’ve brought up the potential Guard/Center swap between James Daniels and Cody Whitehair. I could’ve brought up Stephen Denmark’s progress. I could’ve brought up Cordarrelle Patterson’s inclusion on offense. I could’ve brought up Kerrith Whyte’s return abilities.
But none of it means squat if something happens to Trubisky or Montgomery or Khalil Mack or Akiem Hicks or Eddie Goldman or Eddie Jackson or Tarik Cohen or … you get the point.
Please stay healthy. Is that too much to ask?
