Tyson Bagent has become the best story of the Chicago Bears’ 2023 preseason. Fans became intrigued after some nice plays against the Tennessee Titans in the opener. His accurate passing stood out. However, that intrigue turned to excitement last Saturday when Bagent executed a clinical 92-yard, 17-play drive against the Indianapolis Colts for a touchdown. He didn’t look like an undrafted rookie at that moment. Bagent looked like someone in complete control of everything. The fans saw it. The Bears coaches saw it. His teammates saw it too. Darnell Mooney was one of them.
The wide receiver watched the entire drive from the sidelines. However, he also had a somewhat unique perspective on how it all unfolded. Mooney explained during his press conference on Tuesday.
“He was calm. Super calm. He was electric. I mean just looking at him with the quick game just getting the ball out wherever he wanted to go. That’s where he was going. He wasn’t indecisive. He was very understanding of what he wanted to do. It was beautiful to watch. I had the headset on. I know what play was going on. Definitely beautiful to watch for sure, especially from him.”
Mooney actually listened to the communication between Bagent and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy throughout the drive. He saw the rookie executing the plays and making audibles at the line of scrimmage. There were a few times when he killed plays based on the looks he got from the defense. Most of them were the exact right decisions.
Darnell Mooney makes a key point here.
It would be one thing if Bagent rode a consistent rushing attack and simply made a couple of nice throws on that drive. Plenty of rookies can do that. What stood out was how surgical the kid was. He made every pass on time, on target, and to the correct read. You expect that from a guy who has played three or more years in the league. Bagent barely played a couple of series the week before. Prior to that, his only action outside of college was some work in the Senior Bowl.
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What Darnell Mooney suggests here is that the rookie already has a deep mastery of the Bears’ offensive language. He felt comfortable making checks at the line, executing flawlessly within the system. As a result, he diced up the Colts’ secondary while feeding Roschon Johnson to keep them off balance. It was the most well-executed drive of the preseason by a wide margin. Maybe that means nothing, or maybe it means something. Bears fans are now convinced the team would be foolish to cut Bagent next week.
Mooney appears to agree.
Pro Football Focus (PFF) published its metrics on the Bears QB, Tyson Bagent’s performance versus the Colts (8/19/23). The following are but a few: TTT (Time to Throw) by Passing Depth: Deep (20 yds.+) — 1 of 1 — 2.30 seconds Med (10-19 yds) — 4 of 4 — 3.23 secs. Short (0-9 yds) — 4 of 6 — 1.97 secs. Behind LOS — 4 of 4 — 2.05. secs. TTT by Passing Pressure: Kept clean: 10 of 12 — 2.18 seconds Under pressure: 3 of 5 — 3.50. secs. Not blitzed: 14 of 17 — 2.73 secs. When blitzed:… Read more »
I truly believe that the Bears would have beat the Colts if Flus would have allowed Bagent to play the third quarter also. Plus he played so well in the second quarter he deserved to play the third quarter. For the life of me I don’t know why Flus allowed Peterman to play the second half he certainly didn’t earn it. Bagent should be qb2 based upon his play. He looks like a veteran qb. Bagent is so good that I have to rub my eyes to make sure that I’m seeing what I’m seeing. If this continues no matter… Read more »
@David
I agree with David here. Bagent has secured the #2 spot (at minimum).
This is a glowing review of a guy who doesn’t even have a cup of coffee in the NFL. You’d swear this guy was a 1st round pick and the anointed starter.
Notice how no one ever talks this way about Fields. Just about his athletic ability and his deep pass.
If it’s truly a real competition at every position like Flus states all the time then Bagent clearly beat out Walker and Peterson and should be number 2. What’s a competition if there aren’t final results? If Mr. Irrelevant Brock Purdy can start and play well in his Rookie year then why can’t Bagent who should have likely been drafted? It should be JF1 QB1 and Bagent QB2 no question. If Fields gets hurt we won’t be expecting great things this year anyhow. Why not have a capable young QB come in and see what he has? He could play… Read more »