The Chicago Bears have a quarterback problem. Just thought that should be said in case it hadn’t been seven billion times already. This team is struggling to find out what they really have in Mitch Trubisky. He had a strong 2018 but regressed in every category in 2019. Several experts are convinced he’s not the answer and GM Ryan Pace must look for another option when the offseason kicks off this spring.
Naturally, this leads to the followup question. If Pace were to accept this, who exactly does he go after? There are plenty of options that could be available: Tom Brady, Philip Rivers, Andy Dalton, Alex Smith, and Case Keenum. However, there is one name that Pro Football Focus believes the Bears have to go after. Basically the football version of a “screw it” moment. He is Jameis Winston.
Jameis has been arguably the most volatile quarterback PFF has ever seen, but he has still been better than Trubisky. Winston’s average WAR these past three seasons was among the 15 best quarterbacks in the NFL. Trubisky, on the other hand, was among the six worst.
Since Winston came into the league in 2015, he ranks first in positively graded play rate and has posted the second-worst negatively graded play rate at the same time. Trubisky has struggled to generate any positive plays and is in Winston’s realm as far as negatively graded play rate. Winston’s decision making absolutely needs some work, but at his best, he is “ballin.’”
Chicago Bears would bring back Cutler days with Winston
Winston is easily the most fascinating quarterback of the 2020 free agency period. Here’s a guy who threw for over 5,000 yards and had 33 touchdown passes. That is insane production. However, he also threw a staggering 30 interceptions in 2019. One of the highest marks for a quarterback in NFL history. This is truly the ultimate rollercoaster ride in terms of that position. Is he really the sort of guy that Matt Nagy and his revamped coaching staff can hope to corral into an efficient and effective passer?
If Bruce Arians couldn’t do it, then it’s hard to imagine them having any more success. Winston is what he is at this point in his career. For every outstanding play he makes during a game, there are or two awful mistakes. It’s hard to win games consistently with a player like that under center. Yes, the Bears have the sort of defense that could potentially survive those mistakes but this would just be a repeat of what they had in Jay Cutler several years ago.
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That didn’t work out for Chicago. What makes anybody think Winston would be different?
