Matt Nagy taking over as head coach of the Chicago Bears was a mild surprise. Everybody knew he had a growing reputation in Kansas City, but he still seemed inexperienced with just two seasons as an offensive coordinator. Yet that didn’t seem to deter GM Ryan Pace. After an exhaustive research and evaluation process, he came to the conclusion that Nagy was the exact person he wanted taking over the development of Mitch Trubisky.
There are many reasons to be excited about this hire. Nagy is a former quarterback himself. He understands how to communicate with that position, unlike John Fox. He’s an understudy of Andy Reid, one of the best QB developers in the NFL over the past two decades. He is also far more willing to embrace the ideas of a spread offense, something Dowell Loggains seemed to avoid despite knowing Trubisky thrived in that style at North Carolina.
The simple willingness to embrace new ideas and concepts are things the young head coach will bring to the table as well. However, there is something he’s proven remarkably good at people tend to overlook. Something that can completely transform the Bears offense in the near future.
Matt Nagy is a specialist in the deep passing game
One of the biggest issues that critics had with quarterback Alex Smith for years was his inability to attack defenses vertically. His perceived lack of true arm strength and deep accuracy forced him to play the quick pass game, leading to labels of being a game manager. Amazingly that all changed when Nagy arrived. Last year Smith became the most efficient and effective deep thrower in the NFL.
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It was unquestionably the best season of Smith’s career. He averaged 269.5 yards per game, 11.9 yards per completion, and 8.6 per attempt. All of those are career highs. Nonetheless, he finished the year with a personal best 104.7 quarterback rating and a staggeringly low 1.0% interception rate. It doesn’t get much better than that.
This is terrific news for Trubisky for a couple reasons. It means Nagy understands how to orchestrate an offensive attack that gets receivers open down the field. A persistent problem that bedeviled the Bears under Loggains. Also, it allows the young quarterback to showcase one of his own underrated talents.
When Mitchell Trubisky threw it deep, he didn't put the ball in harms way.
Will Matt Nagy let him loose in 2018? https://t.co/X271RPy6Tk pic.twitter.com/PSfczvQWns
— PFF CHI Bears (@PFF_Bears) May 9, 2018
Trubisky showcased during his limited opportunities that he can be a dangerous passer deep down the field due to strong accuracy and ball placement. All he needed was weapons to work with and a coach willing to turn him loose. With Nagy in town now, things should get fun in a hurry.
