On Monday evening, the Chicago Bears hired Bill Lazor as their offensive coordinator, replacing Marc Helfrich. Although Lazor will not be calling plays, his offensive experience is vital for a team that finished towards the bottom of most offensive categories in 2019. His resume is especially important as he has excelled in getting the productions out of positions the Bears had trouble with last season.
Lazor has served as an offensive coordinator for four seasons split amongst two different teams. He was the Miami dolphins coordinator in 2014 and 2015 when the Dolphins made it to the playoffs with then quarterback Ryan Tannehill. In 2017 and 2018, Lazor was in Cincinnati as the Bengals offensive coordinator. Although his offensives weren’t great, he managed to get production from the quarterback, running back, and tight end positions during those four seasons.
With Miami, in 2014, tight end Charles Clay was one of the best tight ends in the league that season. Clay caught 58 passes for 605 yards and averaged 10.5 yards per catch. In the two seasons overseeing the Bengals offense, Lazor’s top two tight ends combined over 50 receptions and 500 yards each season.
Last season, Bears head coach Matt Nagy saw five of his tight ends combine for just 48 catches and just one touchdown. This was problematic because Nagy needs his tight ends to stretch the field vertically to free up the rest of the passing options. The running backs in 2019 were unable to make an impact in the passing game.
Subscribe to the BFR podcast and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
Under Lazor, running back were consistently productive in his passing attack. In 2014 and 2015, Dolphins running back Lamar Miller averaged 7.2 and 8.4 yards per reception. Joe Mixon averaged 9.6 in 2017 and recorded 43 receptions in 2018. Both Mixon and Miller have been successful as duel-threat backs during their careers.
In 2019, Bears running backs David Montgomery and Tarik Cohen combined for 104 receptions for 641 yards with an average of 6.16 yards per reception. What was alarming was that in 2018, Chicago’s running backs had multiple plus 40-yard receptions compared to 2019 where there were just two receptions over 30 yards.
One of the biggest attributes that Lazor provides is that he has gotten great play from his quarterbacks. In his four seasons as offensive coordinator, the lowest QB rating was 86.6 by Andy Dalton in 2017. Dalton and Tannehill also managed to average 24 touchdown passes in their four combined seasons with Lazor.
The most important player for the Bears offense heading into 2020 will be quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. In his three seasons in the league, the highest QB rating Trubisky has had was 95.4 in 2018 when he made the Pro-Bowl. If Chicago can get better play from their tight ends and running backs, their fourth-year quarterback will have a better season also.
Experience and veteran insight are the most important things Lazor brings to the Bears offensive coaching staff. Nagy needed a veteran mind in the room to analyze his offensive scheme. Although he isn’t the flashiest of offensive minds, Lazor has proven that he can get consistent production on offense, and that is something the Bears didn’t have last season.
